95% of private buses withdraw services

Only 5% of the 12,500-odd private buses were on the road on Saturday with operators withdrawing the remaining buses claiming its was not viable to operate services suffering loss.

Buses did not operate in majority of the districts, including Kollam, Ernakulam, and Kozhikode. In Malappuram, only 2% of the 1,300-odd buses operated. In Kasaragod, all 380 buses were off the road.

The operators had submitted Form G to the Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) concerned by Friday as decided by the Joint Action Committee, the apex body of associations of bus operators, not to pay road tax and retain the permits and thereby evade government action.

They are demanding diesel at subsidised rate or at reduced price and waiver of road tax during the pandemic period to continue bus operations.

The government’s decision to extend the payment of road tax for the quarter beginning August to October 14 did not deter the operators.

“This will not solve the crisis faced by us as we have to pay the road tax on October 14 for the buses that have submitted Form G and not plying and road tax again in November for the next quarter,” Lawerence Babu, chairman, Joint Action Committee, said from Kollam.

The proposal to waive road tax and encourage more buses to operate also did not get the nod. “The government would have got ₹6 to 7 crore towards sales tax from the sale of diesel if at least 15% of the buses are on the road,” he said.