TN transport corpns can now hire, use pvt buses

TN transport corpns can now hire, use pvt buses

Govt Says e-Bus Scheme Reason, Unions Disagree

Ram.Sundaram@timesgroup.com

Chennai:10.08.2020

The state government has allowed its transport corporations to hire and operate private buses along routes on which they were unable to run government buses. While the government claimed that the policy change was aimed at clearing hurdles for the e-bus program, transport unions see this as a step towards privatisation of bus services.

The state nationalised all bus routes in TN in 1972. At present, there are around 50,000 ‘scheme’ routes in Tamil Nadu, says official data. The Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, allow only state-run corporations to operate government buses along the scheme routes. Except for a handful of approved private operators, permits were not issued to others.

In 2019, the Union ministry for road transport launched the second phase of faster adoption and manufacturing of electric vehicles (Fame-II) scheme and said it was ready to financially assist states willing to shift to electric mobility. TN was one of the first states to accept this scheme and since an e-bus will cost at least ₹2.5 crore, Centre advised states to hire vehicles instead of purchasing them.

Existing state rules needed amendments to allow hiring of private vehicles by state transport corporations and hence, necessary changes were made to the MV Act and a draft amendment was released in January. Since there was no objection received, final orders were released now, said a transport department official.

Opposing this, K Arumugam Nainar from CITU, claimed hiring e-buses will increase financial burden of the state transport corporations running on loss.

The Centre provides only a financial assistance of ₹50 lakh per bus. This means each bus will get roughly ₹2,000 per day. But private e-bus operators now demand ₹12,000 as daily hire charges. So the state needs to bear the additional cost.

“Also, the said government order doesn’t specify that changes would be applicable only to e-bus operators. Instead, it has allowed hiring of all types of buses including conventional diesel-operated buses. With no buses operated along 28,000 scheme routes, we fear that the government might allow corporations to hire private buses along them too,” he added.

File photo of e-bus launch in Chennai