City bus ride from next week, operator in fix

Ludhiana: With Ludhiana City Bus services Limited getting permission, the City Bus Service is likely to resume in Ludhiana from next week.
The officials said they would now ask the private operator to start the service after sanitizing the buses.
The City Bus Service was stopped when lockdown/curfew was imposed in the city.
In a letter to the deputy commissioner’s office, the civic officials had sought permission to operate these buses. The officials had said when the state or intra-state bus service was resumed, then city buses could also start. They had asked for terms and conditions on the basis of which they could run the buses.
City buses will run with 50% capacity and will be sanitized daily.
However, the operator running buses for the civic body had claimed that the bus service would run into losses as there would be less commuters considering that all schools and colleges are closed now. Moreover, the condition of 50% cap on passengers too will add to the losses. Sources said the operator might ask for revision in the passenger fare from the civic body to make up for the loss.
MC additional commissioner Sanyam Aggarwal said, “We could not start the bus service without adequate permission. Now, we have received the permission from the DC. We will convey the same to the operator to start buses on routes where these buses used to ply earlier."
Asked about the operator’s claims of losses, he said for two months, they had stopped the service during the lockdown and they will not charge anything from the operator for that period. “But now when we have got permission, the operator will have to pay even if he doesn’t run the buses,” he added.
As of now people are dependent on auto-rickshaws or private vehicles for commuting. Once the city buses are back in service, there will be more option for the public, he added.