About 30 per cent of APSRTC’s income is lost every year because of illegal operations carried out by private buses in the routes only permitted to RTC buses. With the exchequer suffering a loss of more than Rs 1,200 crore, the APSRTC Staff and Workers Federation has demanded the state government to take immediate action to check the unlawful plying of private buses. In a meeting conducted here on Sunday, the federation’s members pointed out that many buses are obtaining contract carriage permit but are plying as stage carriers. In all, 95 per cent of all the routes in the state are nationalised and only APSRTC has the permit to ply on them. But many private buses are illegally carrying out operations. The staff and workers say this is severely affecting their income.
The state committee of the staff and workers federation said the losses incurred because of the illicit operations is the second major loss, after the excess taxes levied on APSRTC. “Every private bus has to submit information like the route, details of the passengers and date of return. But not many private buses are doing so. Even the officials are going easy on them, despite knowing that the exchequer is incurring heavy losses,” said general secretary of the federation Ch Sundaraiah.
According to information, there are just over 3,000 private buses which have been registered as private and tourist buses in the state. However, in reality there are more than 5,000 buses running operations. “Every year there is a provision to add 12 percent services to the existing number by adding new buses to the fleet. But due to losses, the management is only hiring old buses on rent. This is only adding to the losses,” said the federation members. Earlier, the central government made recommendations that the buses which are operating without possessing a permit must be charged with cognisable offence.
The federation added that many of the staffers and workers are suffering due to this, which directly has an negative impact on their job. “The arrears in the salaries have not been cleared, the retired employees are yet to get their older arrears, the advances for Dasara have been postponed to Sankranti, and the regularisation of many contract workers is on hold. All these because of the losses incurred. So why not take action against the violators and cover up the losses?” questioned Sundaraiah. They further demanded the government to immediately announce the routes that are nationalised and the details of the permits required for private players. A week-long campaign should be taken up regarding the same and the officials should start constant checks on the roads, the workers demanded. “Even if buses ply after it, the buses and the travel offices which are selling stage tickets should be seized,” the federation workers concluded.
News : Times Of India