Interstate Bus Owners Association-Kerala (IBOA) has decided to withdraw all inter-State services to Kerala from June 24 in protest against the alleged harassment by the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) during the last two months in the guise of Operation Night Riders launched to check the misuse of inter-State services by all India tourist omnibus (AITOB) operators.
The IBOA State committee said it was forced to take the decision as Transport Minister A. K. Saseendran and the government had failed to end the harassment by the MVD and ₹10,000 fine daily from the operators as penalty.
“We cannot run the services by paying ₹10,000 as penalty for each service being operated and hence we have decided to withdraw the services from June 24,” IBOA Secretary A. J. Rijas said on Thursday. The harassment is continuing despite the IBOA giving it in writing that it is ready to extend all support to the government and the MVD to offer good service to the commuters.
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IBOA charge
The IBOA pointed out that it had put forward a proposal for a redressal grievance mechanism and to impart training to the bus crew in association with the MVD. There is no word from the government on the unscientific norms introduced for getting Licensed Agent for Public Transport (LAPT) licence for the booking offices. The government is forcing the operators who had invested crores for the buses into financial crisis and suicide.
The vehicles operating to the State and registered outside do not pay the road tax in Kerala and those registered in the State submit G form without paying road tax. IBOA State president Manoj Padikkal has urged Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to intervene and resolve the issue and misery of the passengers.
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