The Hindu : Karnataka / Hubli News : Notification permitting private buses on city routes termed illegal

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 30, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Hubli

Notification permitting private buses on city routes termed illegal

By Our Special Correspondent

HUBLI, SEPT. 29. The notification issued by the Government in December 2003 permitting private operators to run buses on the city routes within 20 km of the district headquarters is illegal and the permission granted to the Bendre Nagar Sarige, a private company, to operate buses between Hubli Dharwad is void ab initio, according to the Federation of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation Employees.

The notification and the permission granted to the private operator have acquired controversial overtones in the twin cities.

Memorandum

This has been made clear in a memorandum submitted to M. Mallikarjun Kharge, Minister for Water Resources and Transport, by K.S. Sharma, working president of the federation. The memorandum was submitted at a meeting convened by the Transport Minister in Bangalore on Tuesday.

Supreme Court order

According to Prof. Sharma, the Supreme Court has made it clear in KSRTC vs. Ashrafullakhan (AIR 2002 SC 634) that once a notification prohibiting private operators from plying stage carriages on a whole or part of a route is issued, no permit could be granted on the notified route or part thereof. And if any changes are to be made, it should be done through legislation only.

Prof. Sharma said the route between Hubli and Dharwad was a notified one and the changes had been made through an executive order and not through legislation, as had been ordered by the Supreme Court.

Violation

Prof. Sharma has said that permission granted by the private operators for running 60 buses was in violation of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, and the Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989. It was issued at a time when the North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) was running satisfactory services and had even earmarked 104 buses for the route.

NWKRTC schedules

Though the load was only 78 per cent, it was running buses to meet social obligations. It was operating 1,392 trips and 87 schedules in the twin cities and another 650 trips in the rural areas. This meant on an average it was running one trip every two minutes. The Hubli Agenda Task Force had commended the transport corporation for the good service it was giving the people, Prof. Sharma has said.

Loss

According to Prof. Sharma, if private operators were permitted to operate on the city routes, the transport corporation would incur a loss of Rs. 3.50 crores a year. When the notified scheme was in operation in Hubli and Dharwad, no private operators could get permission to operate on the city routes, he has said.

The memorandum has said that the notification of December 2003 and the permission given to the private operators to operate in the twin cities should be annulled.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka

News Update

Stories in this Section

Water supply schedule for Hubli-Dharwad

Notification permitting private buses on city routes termed illegal

Price crash causing concern among onion growers