Ride-sharing services like Pathao and InDrive are very popular and on demand today. While the services have expedited the transportation process, they are not completely danger-proof and the public needs to know this. Here are eight things you should know about the ride-sharing services in Nepal:

1. Permission: Vehicles registered for private use cannot operate as transport service providers. ‘Transport Service’ is defined as including conveyancing utilizing public vehicles only.
2. Court Decision: After the association of taxi drivers lodged a complaint about the ride sharing services dominating the market,  Patan High Court, in 2076, gave a verdict that the mobile applications of the ride-sharing service providers like Pathao and Tootle were mere digital service providers and hence, could not be thought of as rendering direct transport service. However, the court also ordered the service providers to halt their services until proper laws were made to regulate them.
3. Improvement: Although restricted under the federal law, Provinces like Koshi, Bagmati, Gandaki and Sudurpaschim Provinces have decided to allow the ride sharing transport service operation if the private vehicles comply with the set legal criteria.
4. Danger: Ride sharing service providers have been lagging behind in registering their company as well as the vehicles operated under their name at transport offices and also fail to comply with the necessary requirements like taking route permits. This bars the consumers from having safety insurance and a proper platform to lodge complaints.Their data shared with the riders are not in safe hands either.
5. Insurance: Pathao, whose parent company is based in Bangladesh, is the only ride sharing service that provides blanket insurance which is now available for both the riders and consumers unlike until recently when it was meant for the riders only.
6. Accidents: Unregulated ride-sharing services have posed various dangers, as evidenced by a taxi driver misusing a passenger's details for illicit activities. In another case, a Pathao rider was abducted by service seekers in Kathmandu, while a ride-sharing user was allegedly involved in a murder case. A fatal Pathao scooter accident claimed the lives of both the rider and customer in Kathmandu.
7. Regulation: Department of Transport Management has proposed a directive for guiding the ride sharing services. The crucial directions are for the riders to have a minimum of one year’s driving experience, to carry their identity card during the job, and to not provide services offline. The proposed guidelines also provide for vehicle tracking system and compulsory insurance service. The directive is yet to be passed and implemented. 
8. Complaints: The passengers dissatisfied with the service providers or the riders may file their complaints at the police stations until a dedicated authority is assigned to take up the issues.

Following are the relevant provisions in the legal context concerning the legality of and safety from ride-sharing services in Nepal: