If Demands are Not met by Government, Bus Operators to Protest on 5 September

If Demands are Not met by Government, Bus Operators to Protest on 5 September

Mangaluru: Speaking to Team Mangalorean on behalf of Karnataka State Transport Operators Association, Dilraj Alva, the President of Mangaluru City Bus Owners Association said that the association had submitted a request to the government to meet several of its demands including road tax waiver for private buses for six months, and also give extra time in paying the loans. The association stated that if its demands are not met, it has decided to undertake dharna and agitation.

Alva further said, “The organisation had made repeated demands to the transport department, transport minister and chief secretary of the state transport department seeking to meet their demands. After holding discussions transport department secretary, Anjum Parvez and additional chief secretary, P Ravikumar, had promised to meet the demands, but we will have to keep our fingers crossed until it is materialized. These officials have also asked the chief secretary to send a proposal to the finance ministry headed by Mrs Nirmala Seetharam. We have introduced the Chalo card, and it’s doing very well with commuters making much use of it. Chalo App’, a unique application has heralded the digital ticketing technology in Mangaluru”.

Dilraj Alva- President, DKBOA

“Every three months as Road Tax, we pay, Rs 26,000 for city urban buses; Rs 36,000 for Rural bus; Rs 56,000 for Express Buses; and Rs 82,000 for Contract Carriage buses, which is a lot of money, when there is no proper income. We are hoping that the concerned authorities will accept our demands, and do the needful, which would benefit the bus owners and our staff, and also the commuters. If the citizens/commuters cooperate with us, we can operate the bus service without any hassles and violations. We are hoping for the best, with a positive response and solution from the government and other authorities, so that we could continue with our services. In case our demands are not met, we will protest on 5th September,” added Alva.

Ever since the city and service buses had ceased their services due to lockdown, since March 2020, it had resulted in hardship and inconveniences to many commuters, including office goers, students and others. And with only a few auto-rickshaws plying on the road, and who have been charging exorbitant fares, has even made the life of the common people hard. Not only the commuters face the brunt of this lockdown, where bus transportation has been stopped, it is the bus owners who also faced the brunt, incurring heavy loses due to non-income since months. As a courtesy towards the commuters, the bus owners started their services, even though the revenue is low as of now.

Chairman of the Karnataka State Transport Operators Association- S Nataraj Sharma, and the president of the Association- Rajavarma Ballal, have also raised their voice in this regard and approached the ministers to come out with a solution.