The Hindu : Karnataka / Mangalore News : Private bus operators bracing for challenge from KSRTC

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Oct 21, 2004

Karnataka

Karnataka - Mangalore

Private bus operators bracing for challenge from KSRTC

By M. Raghuram

MANGALORE, OCT. 20. Stung by the sustained campaign of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation in Dakshina Kannada and Udupi districts, the private bus owners have now come together to retain their hold over the sector.

The private bus operators, who have a combined fleet of 7,000 buses in the State, are now seeking a level-playing field with the corporation and its sister concerns. The Karnataka Private Bus Owners' Federation feels that the Government was "pampering" the KSRTC while meting out step-motherly treatment to private bus owners.

Rajavarma Ballal, federation president, told The Hindu that the KSRTC had been getting many sops, including tax benefits and exemption from the 5 per cent infrastructure cess. This gave an unfair advantage to the KSRTC on non-monopoly routes. He said the KSRTC paid tax based on collection while the private operators paid Rs. 2,000 per seat per quarter in the city and mofussil sector. In the luxury long-distance segment, the private bus operators paid Rs. 77,000 per quarter while the KSRTC paid tax based on the collection.

Mr. Ballal said for 2003-04, the KSRTC road tax dues stood at Rs. 150 crores. Even if a fraction of this amount were to be due from private bus owners, the vehicles would have been seized.

Mr. Ballal said private buses had a number of shortcomings with regard to passenger amenities. The sector lacked corporate image. But some of the private bus operators enjoyed reputation for being punctual. To improve the "brand equity" of the private buses, the leading players were working on evolving a corporate entity.

The federation said the KSRTC showed profit because it paid lower price for fuel than private bus owners, employed mass turnover methods and ploughed back money that it saved from the sops extended by the Government. The fare in Airavata (Volvo B7R) super luxury and the Rajahamsa services was at least 20 per cent less than that of the private buses. All services of the KSRTC were treated as "stage carrier" unlike the private buses.

He said the Government knew that the contract carrier concept would not work on short-distance routes but the S.M. Krishna Government had extended this benefit to the private transport operators in 2002.

Mr. Ballal said if the Government wanted to promote healthy competition in the passenger transport sector, it should extend all benefits that the KSRTC enjoyed to the private operators. If the stage carrier status was given to private buses, it would attract more investment in the sector.

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