Transport Department officials on Tuesday seized five contract carriage buses for violating permit conditions and have decided to recommend to the State Transport Authority to initiate stringent action against them.
“These buses were found to be repeatedly violating the permit conditions and hence, we decided to seize them,” said G.S. Hegde, in-charge Senior Regional Transport Officer, Mangaluru.
The bus owners are directed to produce the original permit, which would be forwarded to the State Transport Authority for necessary action, including cancellation of permits, he told.
About 50 buses run between Mangaluru and other towns in the district, including Puttur, Uppinangady, Vitla and Belthangady.
As per the permit conditions, these buses cannot enter the heart of the city, State Bank; but have to stop at Pumpwell (Bhagwan Mahaveer) Circle itself. As contract carriage services, they have to operate on contract with a group of passengers and cannot ferry individual passengers.
However, all the buses violate these conditions and enter State Bank with impunity.
They also operate as regular stage carriage buses picking up and dropping individual passengers. The issue was repeatedly being raised by social activist G. Hanumanth Kamath in Regional Transport Authority meetings.
KSRTC complaint
Meanwhile, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation too had filed a complaint with the Lokayukta, stating that the Transport Department has failed to prevent illegal operation of contract carriage buses thereby denting KSRTC’s revenues.
Mr. Hegde said that the operation would continue on a daily basis even as he has asked the Puttur RTO to initiate similar action under his jurisdiction.
