Visakhapatnam: At a time when traffic cops are struggling to make people toe the line, another major problem has emerged in the city. In a gross violation of the Motor Vehicles Act, owners of private and commercial vehicle are renting out their vehicles.
Although it sounds innocuous, several rules are in place that have to be followed before a car is rented out. Self-drive car operators, such as Zoomcar, Myles Car and Revv among others, which are car rental services, must first register their vehicles as self-drive cars. They are then given black number plates with yellow fonts, unlike a commercial number plate, which is yellow and has black fonts.
Similarly, the insurance module is different for self-drive cars as the vehicles are driven by someone whom the car rental agencies do not know and they rely solely on their driving licence to rent out the car.
But the growing illegal practice is not only leading to loss of business for operators who ensure to follow the rules before launching their companies but also causing loss to the state exchequer.
When TOI inquired into the issue it was found out that authorised self-drive car rental agencies charge around Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000 for 24 hours and 120 km. Thereafter they charge Rs 11 per kilometer and Rs 300 per hour. In addition to this renters have to return the car completely refueled. However, people who rent out their commercial or private vehicles charge far less and the agreement comes with no caveat.
“Whenever, my car is in the workshop or my wife uses it for the day, I hire a self-drive car to reach office and return home. I used to usually hire cars from a Bangalore-based reputed self-drive car rental service. But, recently my neighbour, whose car is rented out by a driver of an app-based cab service, offered me his car at a much lower rate. Now, I take his car on rent,” said K Upadhyay, a private firm executive based in Visakhapatnam.
Speaking to TOI about the problem, police and RTO officials said that they are aware of the situation. “Usually in such a kind of deal no paperwork (including bill) is done. It is difficult to prove that the person who is driving the car has taken the car on rent” said a senior traffic official.
Meanwhile, sources in Zoomcar said, “For self-drive cars we invest a lot on vehicle registration and insurance. And then we decide on a competitive fare. But if commercial or private vehicle owners continue to give their car on rent it will become difficult for us to survive in the market.”