The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has sought the intervention of the State Transport Commissioner to ensure that the 110-odd private buses operating in the capital city stick to the time schedule and route sanctioned to them.
A majority of the private buses in the city were not sticking to the time schedule and route, and were not following the permit stipulation to wind up services on the outskirts of the city, the Vigilance Officer, KSRTC, said in a letter to Transport Commissioner Rishi Raj Singh.
The private buses were winding up services in East Fort, the hub of the KSRTC city services. This was leading to traffic chaos. Also, the private buses were operating ahead of schedule.
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“Such actions cause a dent in the KSRTC’s collection,” the letter said.
‘Places skipped’
Private buses plying in the city were found to be skipping Thamalam, Palkulangara, Vanchiyoor, Thekkemoodu, Vazhuthacaud, Thiruvallam, Karamana, and Pappanamcode.
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The KSRTC pointed out that there was no facility in the city to check the route and the time schedule of the private buses.
Earlier, there were two checking points in the north and south sub-divisions of the traffic police. When the checking point at East Fort was functioning efficiently, the KSRTC’s daily collection from the city depots had gone up to Rs.4 lakh.
Checking points
The KSRTC suggested that the restoration of the checking points at Vellayambalam and Pattom would prevent the misuse of the permits by the private buses.
A joint team of RTO officials, KSRTC officials, and private bus operators was mooted at the checking counter at East Fort.
Parallel services
The State transport utility pointed out that parallel services were being operated in the city limits, affecting its daily collection.
Squads comprising officials of the KSRTC, the State police, and the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) had been effective in curbing the entry of these illegal mini-buses into the city, but these had been wound up by the MVD citing shortage of Assistant Motor Vehicle Inspectors.
The KSRTC urged the Transport Commissioner to discipline the private buses that flouted the permit conditions and check the thriving parallel services operating in the city.