HOT TOPICS

SPOTLIGHT AGENCIES

Petition to CM to end BMTC/KSRTC monopoly

235

Written By murali772 - 24 April, 2009

Bangalore Congestion BMTC KSRTC suggestion monopoly competition

The bus is now beginning to re-establish its position as the primary mode for public transport. And, of course, the importance of public transport is a now a no-brainer. Given this scenario, government monopolies (BMTC & KSRTC) occupying this critical space is an anomaly that cannot be suffered any longer.

There's no denying that BMTC has improved its services of recent, and is set to do even better with the roping in of the services of professionals like Prof Ashwin Mahesh of IIM, who has come up with innovations like the Big-10 services, etc. But, whatever, a monopoly has its limitations, and a government one has even bigger limitations.

Besides, the task is really huge if the percentage of trips made using public transport has to rise from the present 40 odd to a level of 70 to 80 (like in London, where the near 90% privately-owned bus services record close to 6 million trips/ week-day, compared to the Underground's 3.4 million - check:  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Transport_for_London  for the sustainable growth of the city.

That apart, if innovative ideas like 'Big-10' haven't quite caught on the way they should have, it is largely because of the last-mile connectivity factor. And, 'Shuttle services' for meeting this need are best farmed out to the private sector.  

Another area where the private sector could readily come in is the high-end services, where anyway the BMTC is bleeding heavily. Check:  bus-services-a-different-approach

Then, there's also the demand from specific sectors like the IT/ ITES industry, schools, etc, which again are best met by private sector operators. Check:  http://praja.in/blog/murali772/2008/09/08/bmtcs-business-oriented-outlook#comment-7848

Because of the prevailing 'license-permit raaj', so far, it's been only the Blue-line (of Delhi) kind of operators that have generally been in the picture, in turn earning the private sector a bad name. For that to change, the raaj has to be dismantled and the entry of reputed players like TVS facilitated, all under the oversight of a duly constituted and empowered regulatory body.

The enlightened members of the civil society are more and more exhorting the car/two-wheler users to switch to the use of buses. While doing so, it becomes incumbent on their part to demand of the government to create the right kind of climate for providing of such services as will make these people want to make the switch (Given today's scenario, however, the trend is opposite, and the NANO is going to be aggravating the situation even further). So, would these worthies, as also other like-minded people, then want to sign this petition addressed to the Chief Minister, please?
 

PS1: (I have, as on 23/06/12, withdrawn the petition, because of a technical hitch in the configuring of it, explained more fully here, for those interested. I'll be starting a new one soon).

PS2: As of today (17/08/12), I have revived the petition. It may be accessed here.

Other connected blogs:

http://praja.in/blog/murali772/2007/12/12/better-bussing-green-bangalore

Bus-services, a different approach

http://praja.in/node/838

Roads to prosperity

The challenged private sector

The private sector challenge

Muralidhar Rao

COMMENTS

endorsement

murali772 - 16 March, 2012 - 12:25

"There are, of course, difficult questions surrounding any new plan. Loss of autorickshaw monopolies in some areas, and competition from the new mini buses to both autos and loosely regulated 'mini vans' are potential hurdles. Chennai badly needs an agency to procure transport options for the public under a well-regulated and passenger-friendly scheme that sets fares, routes and service quality benchmarks. It should specify the kind of mini-bus that must be operated by the service provider. That will prepare the ground for feeder services for the upcoming Metro rail. The time to start is now, and CUMTA the city transport regulator should act. Without such initiatives, Chennai's quality of life is bound to deteriorate, along with its local economy".

These are the excerpts from an article which appeared in 'The Hindu' recently (accessible here).

In fact, the only difference between what is stated in the article, and my petition, is on the question of how to handle the service segment described in the first sentence in the above excerpts. And, the answer to that, quite as stated "is procurement of services from the same operators, besides others, but under strict regulation", perhaps through their 'co-operatives', which may even be offered concessions on road taxes for their vehicles, which point was also made long ago as "Buses run by co-operative societies may be allowed 25% concession on annual license fees", here.

Very clearly, therefore, this is indeed the most cost-effective solution, not for just Chennai, but for every city in the country.

But, for all that, if my petition (on-line) didn't gather the requisite momentum, it was plainly due to its faulty formatting, whereby people landed up clicking on a 'NO' without realising what they were doing. This article has now caused me to firm up my resolve to have it corrected, and take it forward.

 

towards smartening cities

murali772 - 11 September, 2014 - 09:03

Reproduced below are excerpts from a report in The Telegraph (in Italics - for the full text, click here), and my comments thereof:
 
Citing ITDP’s feasibility study, the regional director highlighted that private cars comprise only 3 per cent of total travel pattern in Ranchi every day. Auto-rickshaws stand at 40 per cent, two-wheelers at 20 per cent, cycles at 11 per cent, rickshaws at 3 per cent and buses at one per cent. The rest 22 per cent travel on foot.
 
“If you see the pattern, we have never really encouraged buses here while autos remain the transport lifeline. That is where the administration has failed. If you dig up records on government spending, you’ll see that not even one per cent has been spent on buses. In contrast, the government wants to invest several crores on flyovers and monorail,” she said, adding, “We suggest a little over 1,000 mini-buses for Ranchi, which automatically will easy rush.”
 
But where is the space? Won’t roads choke?
 
“Ranchi has over 10,000 autos, the major cause of traffic snarls. We recommend 10 per cent buses, which will offer multiple benefits, by cutting down on the three-wheeler. As far as livelihood of those associated with autos is concerned, make them stakeholders in the bus service in the form of managers, drivers and conductors. For this, a sort of joint venture or an SPV will be needed. It is very doable when every major city across the globe is focussing on public transport,” Gadepalli said.
 
Very well said so far. It more or less sums up the scenario in most cities as of now. Even cities like Bengaluru, served by government monopoly service providers, are headed quite the same way, going by the report cited in my post of 22nd April, accessible by scrolling up.
 
In a final takeaway, the senior ITDP official opposed privatisation of buses. “Outsourcing in toto will backfire on public transport. Reason: the government would then end up becoming only a licensing authority while the private player will focus solely on profit. It will decide timing and routes of buses based on profit. In this race for more money, buses may become a serial killer like in Delhi. So, in a nutshell, it is very necessary for the government to acknowledge public transport as public service,” she signed off.
 
Even total privatisation, through franchising to limited number of professional players sector-wise (to prevent unhealthy competition), providing for just an upper limit for fares, going by the logic in the statement "father used to walk 20 minutes to save Rs 20 - son spends Rs 20 to save 20 minutes", could work out well. After all, the private players are there to make money, and that can come only through making ridership more and more attractive.
 
The problem arises if you want to look at it as a "public service". Then, power supply, water supply, PDS, education, healthcare, and everything else too gets added on, and you have the mess of the present. A viable way out for the government then may be to credit whatever subsidy it wants to afford, for each of these services, directly into their bank accounts of those identified as eligible, through Aadhaar, even in advance, so that they in turn pay up the charges upfront, and the services don't fall apart. 
 
Perhaps the drive by the centre to make cities smarter will finally get people thinking along such solutions. Interesting days ahead.
 
 

shape up or ship out

murali772 - 29 October, 2014 - 11:24

Excerpts from the same DH report cited by MaheshK (full text here):
 
Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy opposed the proposed bill when it was placed before the National Road Safety Council and Transport Development Council meeting chaired by Union Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari here on Tuesday. 
 
Before allowing to set up the Road Safety Authority and allowing private bus operators to ply buses on nationalised routes, the Centre must take steps to protect the interest of state road transport corporations, Reddy said. 
 
Even Tamil Nadu and Kerala Transport Ministers also expressed a similar view. However, Gadkari said he will go head with the bill and it will be introduced in winter session of Parliament.
 
Claiming that the road transport corporations in Karnataka were providing efficient services in remotest places of the State, Reddy said that out of the 55 state transport corporations in the country only those of Karnataka, Bangalore and Maharashtra were making profit.
 
With over 1.5 lakh employees working in Karnataka state road transport undertakings that have a fleet of more than 25,000 buses, the Centre must take steps to protect interest of the undertakings, Reddy said.
 
Mr Ramalinga Reddy should understand that his primary duty is to the travelling public, and not to the SRTC's. There is already a huge demand, and it's growing exponentially. The SRTC's by themselves are unable to, and cannot ever hope to gear themselves up to, meet it, either in terms of quality or quantity. And, the organised private sector in the country is just waiting to fill in the gap, and make a world of difference to the sector, like it did in the case of airlines services. If the SRTC's can gear themselves up to face the competition, well and good, for all concerned. If not, nobody is going to shed a tear for them.
 
The way Air-India and BSNL have been performing after competition set in the respective sectors, today nobody is too bothered if they close down. In fact, the greater worry is the huge drain they are proving on the tax payers' money. The same fate awaits the SRTC's if they can't shape up. 
 
Mr Ramalinga Reddy doesn't appear to have realised that the times have changed. The following excerpts from a survey published in the ToI (full text here), should perhaps alert him to the changed mood of the public:
 
The survey gives thumbs down to the five ministers representing Bangalore. Transport minister B Ramalinga Reddy, who is in charge of the city, has secured the lowest score of 3.96 among them. 
 

Is it happening finally?

murali772 - 9 November, 2014 - 18:06

Following (in italics) are the excerpts from a report on the subject from Bangalore Mirror, and my responses to them (in normal font). For the full text of the report, click here.
 
In spite 'of over 20 years of economic liberalisation in India, city bus transport services across the country have been kept out of it and have remained a public sector monopoly. Now, it could upend following a proposed move by the Centre to allow private players onto city roads. - - - -The draft bill has mooted repealing of the Motor Vehicles Act of 1988 and setting up of a National Transport Authority which would be vested with powers to permit private operators to ply buses in all areas of the country without any restrictions. In effect, all state transport authorities will be either wound up or report to the national authority.
 
One would like to believe it's actually happening. 
 
Whether private players make a go for it or not, the Siddaramaiah-led state government want to guard its turf; otherwise, they might as well forget the Rs 4,200-cr revenue that state transport ministry rakes in annually.
 
This refers to vehicle taxes. The charge is a bogey. There will of course be a mechanism to disburse the accruals equitably to the states
 
- - - - In Bengaluru, where 50 lakh people use the 6,685 Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses (which do 79,469 trips) every day, the Karnataka government has objected to the move on the ground that it is detrimental to the survival of the state-run transport corporations.
 
If they can't compete effectively, they may as well close down
 
- - - - It is not prudent to allow private players as they are more profit-oriented," Karnataka transport minister, R Ramalinga Reddy, told Bangalore Mirror. 
 
That's in fact a charge against BMTC too.
 
- - - - BMTC, which was established in 1997, is one of the largest state-run transport corporations in the country with 36,146 personnel.
 
A sizable section of them have been retained as temporary, and for decades together - check this. 
 
- - - - Over the years, the company has augmented its fleet by adding Volvo air-conditioned buses and ramped up its infrastructure by adding 40 bus depots and 52 major bus stops. Reddy said, "We submitted our strong opposition to allowing private operators as we have invested massively on infrastructure like bus stops, TTMCs, fleet and a huge workforce. BMTC and KSRTC have been operating for the benefit of the public and not for profit."
 
In fact, what needs to happen is for the state government to float an SPV, transfer all the fixed infrastructural assets to it, and allow their usage by the transport operators (private and government) against levy of user charges, quite like airports. The SPV operations can be outsourced to a professional agency. 
 
- - -  Allowing private operators will trigger huge competition, it may even force the BMTC to operate buses on the same lines as private operators to earn more revenue and only on high-passenger density routes."
 
On the other hand, if all the artificialities are removed, you'll have excellent services catering to all kinds and classes of needs - check here for more
 
- - -  After the central government allowed private operators in telecommunications and aviation, we have seen drastic changes, both negative and positive."
 
Largely positive.
 
- - -  "The bigger question," the official said, "is will Bangalore's road infrastructure be in a position to accommodate a thousand more buses in the future?" 
 
With more reliable bus services, car usage, particularly for commuting, will reduce considerably, providing the room for operation of more buses. Simultaneously, car usage can be disincentivised, and auto's phased out - check this.
 
- - - - Reddy said the draft bill is "opposed to public interest and against Constitutional provisions."
 
It is very much in public interest; but against vested interests. As such, the Constitution can be amended, if needed. 
 
Well, through passing of this bill, the centre will be facilitating the entry of organised sector private players into the field, which has been the long felt need in this vital infrastructural area. But, the transport sector mafia confederations, led by the neta's (both present and past, perhaps jointly) are going to be doing everything to block it. 
 
The bigwigs of the so-called new-age political parties will perhaps endorse it, but strictly within the confines of the seminar halls, supposedly to remain "politically correct", as they perceive things. But, what is happening in the process is that they are getting themselves equated to the Congress, particularly by the newly franchised youth of the country, who unlike the oldies are generally not burdened with any pseudo-Socialist baggage, leading to the parties' continued lacklustre performances at the hustings. One wonders if they will ever realise that, in today's world, political correctness and overall correctness are one and the same. 
 
It's to the credit of the BJP, at the centre, that they have taken a bold decision. 
 

labour aristocracy in action

murali772 - 26 November, 2011 - 13:50

Members of the Akhila Karnataka Rajya Raste Sarige Nowkarara Mahamandala stated that all the four state transport corporations were employing nearly 33,000 employees as trainees on a stipend between Rs 2,000-Rs 5,000 per month. “This is close to 1/3rd of the total workforce. They are made to do regular work, are fined like regular employees and after a training period of 2 years have to undergo probation for 2 more years,” said K S Sharma, president of the federation. He pointed out that the total salary received by the lowest rank in the corporations was 9,000 per month for a class ‘D’ attender. - - - - The federation is protesting against the alleged arbitrary pay hikes made by the corporations without consulting the workers. “There must be elections to recognise the negotiating body which represents the workers, they cannot decide wage hikes,” Sharma said.

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

This is typically the labour aristocracy (a term coined by none less than the redoubtable Mr Gurudas Dasgupta) in action. Most government organisations are in the grips of various types of mafia operations - the politician at the top handles all the major contracts; the officials - the smaller contracts; and the labour aristocracy - the labour contracts. They all manage to arrive at some kind of a balance to somehow keep the show going. But, it's just that - only a show. If the sector is unshackled to allow for healthy competition from the private sector, on a more level playing field, the benefits to the economy, as well as to the aam aadmi, will be huge.

When are the people going to be realising such fundamentals? Well, atleast perhaps I can now enlist the support of this 'mahamandala' in my pursuit.

PRAJA.IN COMMENT GUIDELINES

Posting Guidelines apply for comments as well. No foul language, hate mongering or personal attacks. If criticizing third person or an authority, you must be fact based, as constructive as possible, and use gentle words. Avoid going off-topic no matter how nice your comment is. Moderators reserve the right to either edit or simply delete comments that don't meet these guidelines. If you are nice enough to realize you violated the guidelines, please save Moderators some time by editing and fixing yourself. Thanks!