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About a week after I logged in the post of 16th Jan (above), the CEO of an online bus ticket booking agency called me to say that he (as also the bus operators) was in serious trouble because of his "ticketing", being noted by the Transport Commissioner (particularly of AP), as a transgression of the Contract Carriage Act, under which these buses have been licensed to operate. He wanted to know what the solutions could be.

I very plainly told him that, since hold up of the operations are too expensive to afford, the immediate solution lay in organising the operators to collect a few bagfulls of currency and striking a deal with the Transport Commissioner. And, as for a long term solution, I suggested that he and the operators back this petition (and the PIL threreof) of mine.

I didn't hear from him thereafter. The buses are back in operation, apparently. So, I conclude he has taken the first part of my suggestion.

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Enforcement officials in transport department rubbished rumours that it was a 'non-booked trip'. The third such bus accident in the state, which left six persons charred to death and several others injured, has raised several questions on the compliance of safety directives and enforcement by the transport department.

Sources told TOI the bus is not a factory product, that it was locally built by coach builders, and the engine could have been assembled. An executive with SPR Travels also said the bus was scrapped seven months ago, but the actual owner, Santosh, chose to operate it by picking up passengers without proper bookings.

But the transport department said there were no such violations. "The vehicle is insured and has a valid fitness certificate too. The driver has a valid driving licence too," an official told TOI. However, investigations to ascertain the reason behind the fire in the engine are directed by the transport department. The officials are also trying to get details of the vehicle from the owner and operator of SPR Travels.

The department said a list of passengers is available at the starting point of the journey in Davanagere. The list was being sent to the department headquarters in Bangalore, officials said.

Despite this claim, no passenger records were found in the operator's Bangalore office on Dr Rajkumar Road in Rajajinagar. "No one is available in the booking offices in Bangalore and Davanagere," he said.

As per the order issued on November 17, after two bus infernos in Mehbubnagar and Haveri rocked the state, a copy of the passenger lists should be available at the starting and destination points, and one copy with the crew. Copies of the vehicle's documents should also be available with the crew and at the operator's headquarters.

For the full text of the report in the ToI, click here.

When the earlier incidents happened, the Transport Dept and RTO officials were quick to point out that the private players were operating as "Stage Carriages" even as they were licensed only as "Contract Carriages", and therefore in violation of the law. But, now that their game has got exposed, in that it is they who are responsible for perpetuating this anomally, they appear desperate to cover up for the operators.

Let the world awake to the fact that it is they and their political masters who are the real killers.

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The Upa Lokayukta has now taken up a case based on a complaint accusing private operators of violating permit norms and causing huge losses to the KSRTC. The complaint, filed by one Shamanna, alleges that the Transport Department is working hand-in-glove with private transporters.

At the hearing on Monday, KSRTC officials said the Transport Department should take action against private buses which have a contract carriage permit but operate like stage carriages. A contract carriage is supposed to travel from one point to another without any stops, while a stage carriage is meant to travel on a fixed route with fixed stops by collecting fares from passengers.

- - - More than 70 representatives of private operators, including Durgamba, SRS Travels and VRL Travels, through their advocates, submitted that by way of picking up passengers, they were not violating contract carriage permit rules.

 “There were several private transporters who submitted before the Upa Lokayukta. Some of us who run long route night buses submitted that there was no violation by picking up passengers before leaving the starting point in a contract carriage. For example, a Mangalore-bound night buses doesn’t stop anywhere in between after passing Bangalore city and these buses are not boarded by other passengers in between. We are operating just the way KSRTC night buses operate. We will also submit in the next hearing how KSRTC buses ply without any permit,” Sadananda Chatra, General Secretary, Karnataka State Tourist Bus Operators Association, told Express.     

For the full text of the report in the New Indian Express, click here.

The complainant, Mr Shamanna, is probably making a genuine point. But, what he doesn't seem to appreciate is that far more revenue is being lost through pilferages, and other corrupt practices, inevitable in a government operation, a monopoly at that.

As such, Mr Shamanna would do well to bother with what is in the best interest of the consumer. Looking from that perspective, the question that needs to raised is why should the government be constraining the private operations, through use of archaic acts, when its monopoly operators cannot meet the ever growing demand. Equally important - why should there be monopolies in today's world?
 

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far more revenue is being lost through pilferages, and other corrupt practices

Please provide stats /reports (if any) to support this claim.

why should the government be constraining the private operations, through use of archaic acts, when its monopoly operators cannot meet the ever growing demand. Equally important - why should there be monopolies in today's world?

Inter-city bus services are not a monoploy anywhere in the country & as stated earlier, if they pick up passengers at several points within a city & similarly drop them off at multiple points at the destination city, they are not in violation of 'contract carriage' rules, as Mr Sadananda Chatra states. However, if they pick up passengers at intermediate points (between origin & destination cities), they are in violation of 'contract carriage' rules & deserve to be penalized. Unfortunately, majority of them do this.

Why do private operators always choose 'contract carriage' license when most of them operate as 'stage carriers'? Why cannot they opt for 'stage carrier' licenses & operate buses legally in line with existing laws?

Most buses opt for 'contract carriage' licenses instead of 'stage carrier' permits because this allows them to get away from declaring their intended routes & timings. When they get penalised for violations, they claim that 'contract carriage' rules are archaic. BTW govt (as regulator) has the right & must seek information about bus routes /times of operation etc when issuing 'stage carrier' permits since they would need to monitor the number of services along specific routes.

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"The large majority of people in cities use public transport; we have contributed to public transport policies for several cities including Kolkata and Delhi" - quote from Ms Medha Patkar (AAP's candidate for South Mumbai in the forthcoming parliamentary elections) in an interview given to ToI (for the full text, click here).

So, is she aware of how the archaic Contract Carriage Act and Stage Carriage Act have been used by the state governments in the South to keep respectable bus transport players like VRL, KPN, Durgamba, etc on tenterhooks (and the likes of TVS totally away), and bring in just mafiosos of the likes of Ponty Chaddha in Delhi, even as the largely monopoly government operators are unable to meet the ever growing demand? If she is aware, then she is party to such retrograde policies, and therefore not deserving of the votes of the suffering commuters. If she's not aware, then that's not good enough. But, at least if she commits to make the necessary changes, may be she deserves support.

Bus transport service is a key infrastructure sector, and the country can no longer afford to have the public sector monopolies messing it up the way they have been all these years, affecting the aam aadmi the most

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