Like State-run road transport corporations, private bus operators, operating stage carriage and contract carriage buses are going through financial distress. The operators say more than 5,000 buses that include tourist buses remain off the road.
“It has been over a year, but bus operators are not finding any relief. Inter-State operations and tourist vehicles are not getting any ridership, and buses have remained off the road for months. As if the pandemic induced troubles were not enough, the government increased our burden by hiking fuel prices. We are not in a position to afford fuel and operational cost; the tyre cost alone has gone up from ₹42,000 to ₹46,000. We have not received any relief from the government, and many operators have surrendered their permit documents to RTOs as they cannot run their business,” said Nataraj Sharma, general secretary, Karnataka State Tourist Operators’ Association.
On the other hand, taxi and auto drivers say that if COVID-19 cases continue to surge, they will be hit hard again.
Sreenivas B., a taxi driver, said, “After lockdown was imposed, without finding any revenue sources, many taxi drivers sold their vehicles as they were not in a position to pay the EMI. There were instances of drivers leaving the city or shifting to other professions. Those who are continuing in the business are not getting good bookings as work from home continues.”
Somashekhar, president, Namma Chalakara Trade Union, added, “Drivers are not getting many bookings. On the other hand, taxi aggregators are giving ₹7 to ₹9 per km to drivers. If they manage to earn ₹1,000 per day, most of it goes for fuel and vehicle maintenance. We are demanding that aggregators pay the rates fixed by the government. Drivers are facing one more big problem: aggregators are operating an illegal bike taxi business by attaching white board two-wheelers on their platform. This has resulted in revenue loss for both taxi drivers and autorickshaws in the city. Transport Department officials know everything about the illegal business but are doing nothing to stop it.”
