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Infrastructure company HICC has unveiled a new car-pooling service to help commuters in the city brave traffic snarls and spiralling fuel prices, while tackling global warming at the same time.
Mega Car Pool Pvt Ltd, a part of Hindustan Infrastructure Construction Corporation (HICC), launched the service here yesterday.
“Traffic and pollution are major problems in Delhi. It is high time we start sharing our rides from home to office and back home,” Mega Car Pool Founder and CMD, Mr Kamal Kumar, told PTI.
Once a car-owner becomes a member by paying a registration fee of Rs 200, he can choose from three categories of services, costing Rs 300, Rs 350 and Rs 400 a month, respectively.
In the first category of service, the company SMSs carpooling networks close to the user's route. In the second segment, if you have an GPS-enabled phone, the route will be shown, while the third category offers a navigation and telecommunication device, ‘My Screen', worth Rs 16,000.
The device comes with strategic partner Aircel's SIM card and partner global navigation player TomTom's all-India maps.
The service provider said it will maintain a data bank for security reasons and carpool members would be of the customers' choice, like only women or of the same profession.
“You can categories among low, mid and high segment cars,” Mr Kumar said.
There are 6 million vehicles in Delhi as per Delhi Traffic Police data. Moreover, a study by the Centre for Science and Environment had found that nearly 1,000 vehicles are added to the city's roads every day.
“This is the need of the hour. We cannot commute on Delhi roads without pooling cars,” he added.
Around 1,300 tonnes of pollutants are huffed into Delhi skies everyday, says another government study. So, apart from decongesting roads, pooling cars would help in reducing vehicle owners' carbon footprint.
“The initiative gives an opportunity to everyone to contribute their bit in saving the environment be reducing the carbon footprint,” Mr Kumar said.
On investment, he said: “The company has so far invested $2 million and eyes to become a billion dollar venture in two years.”
It already has a network of over 1,000 car owners and by the end of 2012, it plans to take the number to 15,000, the company spokesperson said.
She added that the company is targeting a pan-India launch after NCR launch, but did not give a definite timeframe.
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