Karnataka government may book Uber, Ola rides for officials

Bengaluru, Aug 30: In an effort to cut costs incurred on hiring private vehicles for officials’ day-to-day use, the state government is considering using cab aggregators like Ola and Uber. The move comes after CM HD Kumaraswamy’s instructions on cutting down government expenditure to mobilise funds for his big-ticket Rs 40,000-crore farm loan waiver.

Chief secretary MT Vijaya Bhaskar has asked the transport department to study the pros and cons of using cab aggregators and how much money can be saved. After getting the report, the government may negotiate with the cab aggregators.

“Once we submit a detailed report to the chief secretary, a decision will be taken on using cab aggregators,” said Beeresh, deputy secretary, transport department.

Govt spends over Rs 100cr per annum to hire cabs for officials

According to sources in the department of personnel and administrative reforms, around 5,000 vehicles are hired through outsourcing by various government departments at the rate of Rs 25,000 per vehicle every month. Each vehicle is hired for eight hours a day with a maximum distance of 80km a day. The government has to pay Rs 40 more for every extra hour. The government spends over Rs 100 crore per annum for this, sources add.

The government feels that using cab aggregators on trip basis will almost halve the amount spent on each hired vehicle as most often, vehicles are used to pick and drop officials from residence to office and vice-versa. In a month, they hardly visit other places on duty for 8-10 days.

However, Thimmaiah, president, Karnataka State Government Drivers Association, claims the number of hired vehicles and amount spent is far more than estimates of DPAR sources. “At least 15,000 vehicles are hired by the government. It not only hires vehicles but also avails the services of drivers through outsourcing without verifying antecedents. This is a security threat to government offices and officers. We have complained about it on many occasions but nobody is bothered about it,” he said, adding that the association will oppose the move to use cab aggregators.