KSRTC withdraws electric buses over non-payment of road tax

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The KSRTC has stopped the service of electric buses in the state from Friday due to the non-payment of road tax. The 10 buses, taken on wet lease from Maha Voyage LLP, were introduced in the KSRTC fleet in February.
According to KSRTC, the company which leased out the buses is supposed to pay the tax, as per the wet least agreement. "We hope that the company will clear the dues, following which the buses can be operated," said KSRTC managing director M P Dinesh.
These buses were operated in intercity routes from Thiruvananthapuram and Ernakulam, based on online reservation.
As per contract, the tax need to be paid every three months. The company had paid an amount of Rs 41,070 as tax for each bus from the period of January 1 to March 31. The tax is now due from April.
The unit officers were asked to provide alternative arrangements for passengers who had already reserved the tickets on three Thiruvananthapuram-Ernakulam buses on Friday.
"One AC low floor bus was arranged to transport these passengers. Since AC low floor Chill buses are operated from Thiruvananthapuram from 5am at one-hour intervals, passengers were not affected by the cancellation. Similar arrangements have also been made on Saturday," said a KSRTC official from Thiruvananthapuram city depot.
Meanwhile, the online reservation for the electric bus service is still open on the KSRTC website. Some people are learnt to have booked tickets to Ernakulam on Saturday also.
Interestingly, the question of road tax payment had come up when KSRTC had invited tenders for 1,500 electric buses, to be operated in three zones.