Pvt bus operators cry foul over crackdown

Hyderabad: The private bus operators have cut down their operations close to nil. Following the crackdown by RTA officials against illegal operations in the recent months, more than 80 per cent of the buses went off the road.

A total of 2,200 buses were seized by the RTA and as many as 2,046 cases were booked against the private operators for their lapses and licenses of 104 were cancelled. According to RTA officials, some 40-60 buses are being seized every day as part of the crackdown. Even on Tuesday, the department seized 27 buses.

According to officials, these buses, which have permission to ply as contract carriers, are plying as stage carriers. Though the private operators have been making a hue and cry against the raids being conducted by the Transport department, the officials claim to have taken up the special drive in a bid to streamline the services.

The Palem bus fire accident in Mahabubnagar district, in which 45 passengers were charred to death, had caused a great deal of embarrassment to both the road transport authorities and the State government. Post the incident, the government is under pressure to act against the operators and owners of the buses.

'The safety of passengers has become a priority issue to the government,' said B Venkateswarlu, Joint Transport Commissioner (Vigilance & Legal). The private bus operators have been questioning the rationality behind selectively enforcing the rule of law on them. They staged a protest in front of the RTA office at Khairatabad in the city.

Sharma Travels, which took off all its vehicles after facing three instances of bus seizures, pointed out that the travel agencies were paying taxes at a rate of Rs 3,675 per seat for each quarter. According to them, it is the highest in the country.

It questioned as to why selectively the private buses were being targeted when most of the vehicles using the road were violating norms.

'If we failed to pay the tax then they can seize our vehicles, but why is this harassment? Because of the prevailing situation we are not able to get salaries for the last two months. The entire staff is staying in the office with the hope of some relief,' says P Krishna Kumar, city manager of Sharma Travels.

With the ban, the fate of over 25,000 employees working for 200 private travel agencies hangs in balance.

The situation is worst for Jabbar Travels, whose bus met with the accident at Palem in Mahabubnagar. The travel agency, which has a history of almost 50 years, has completely shut its operations after the crackdown.

While expressing solidarity with the victims, the employees here raised the question as to why the government was harassing them in the pretext of examination affecting the lives of thousands of employees and their families.

M A Raheem, in-charge of Jabbar Travels, said, 'People prefer the services of private transport over APSRTC. We are confident that once this crackdown stops, people will continue to travel with us.'

H Subashchandra Bose, president of All-India Permit Private Bus Operators Association, pointed out that the private operators had incurred a total revenue loss of Rs 150 crore in the last three months.

'We have been doing this business for the last 35 years, why suddenly this harassment? This is nothing but a fallout of the political instability and differences between the Chief Minister and the Transport Minister. We are ultimately victimised,' says Bose.

On the other hand, the Palem Victims JAC president, D Sudhakar, takes credit for the crackdown, feels, 'there should be an end to everything that is illegal. The crackdown on the private bus operations marks the beginning of the end for private buses operations.'