Private stage carriage (route bus) operators have rued the government inaction towards their demand for road tax waiver for six months beginning from June and 50% tax collection for the next six months due to the impact of COVID-19.
“There has been no response to our demands,” said K. Rajavarma Ballal, president, Federation of Private Bus Operators of Karnataka. On the other hand, the government has been supporting State Road Transport Corporations (SRTCs) by paying the salaries of the employees.
“We too discharge social obligations, including offering concessional travel to students, senior citizens and the differently abled. The government should not have discriminated between RTCs and private operators,” Mr. Ballal told The Hindu.
Despite partial relaxation in the lockdown, passenger patronage has been very dull, Mr. Ballal said and gave the example of Dakshina Kannada-Udupi districts that were largely served by private operators. While there are about 60 services between Mangaluru and Udupi, about 95 services are operated between Mangaluru-Kundapur at present. Almost all buses run empty except during peak hours, he said.
Private stage carriage operators have to pay quarterly tax of ₹999 per seat per bus that comes up to ₹47,952 for a 48-seater bus. “The tax incidence is huge even otherwise and is exponential when we are asked to ferry only 50% of the permitted capacity,” Mr. Ballal said.
Gujarat waiver
Karnataka State Travel Operators’ Association General Secretary K. Radhakrishna Holla said Gujarat has waived off road taxes for passenger vehicles till September 2020. The Karnataka government, on the other hand, is yet to issue orders to validate documents, including permits, fitness certificates, etc., till September 30, as per the Union government directive, he regretted. The Centre had also asked States to consider waiving off taxes and penalties, he added.
The association and the State Bus Owners’ Committee had demanded complete tax exemption for six months. Mr. Holla said almost all private bus operators as well as other public service vehicle owners have surrendered their permits, for the first time in the history, to avoid the road tax liability. The government should come to the rescue of private operators who run public services, Mr. Holla demanded.
A senior official with the Transport Department told The Hindu that the government was yet to take any decision on the demands.
KSRTC too in a critical condition
State Road Transport Corporations (SRTCs) including KSRTC, BMTC, NWKRTC and NEKRTC that have been running just about 25% of their total services too are in a critical condition.
As against ₹36-37 average cost of operation per km (CPKM), the corporations have been getting ₹12-15 earning per km (EPKM) with social distancing in place and very few people travelling via public transport. “The government has paid the salaries for April and May while the situation is no different this month. While the corporations were under loss in normal situation itself, the present situation is extremely bleak,” a senior officer said.
KSRTC’s Mangaluru Division is operating 10 buses between Mangaluru and Udupi, as private operators who dominated the sector did not start services from May second week. They just do 20 round trips in a day while there would be just two-three passengers between 10 a.m. and 3 p.m., said an officer.
