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Transport dept to amend law to rein in pvt bus operators

Special drive to weed out illegal autorickshaws in Bangalore
Last Updated 14 August 2014, 20:44 IST

The Transport department will amend the Contract Carriages Act to regulate fares charged by private bus operators.

Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy told the media on Thursday that the department, under the amended law, would set a base fare per kilometre for private bus operators to charge people.

Reddy, however, said that before fixing the fare, the department would consult the deputy commissioner (DC) of every district, consider the prevalent diesel prices and also discuss the fares with all interested parties.

“We have been receiving regular complaints over the exorbitant rates being charged by the private bus operators during peak season. In order to regulate this, we are bringing the amendment. However, we will provide a little leeway for the bus operators to increase the rates based on diesel prices and during the festival season.

This leeway will be on the lines of KSRTC rates that are hiked every year,” he added
Reddy said the KSRTC would also be shifting at least 1,000 bus schedules, moving towards Tumkur and beyond, to Peenya depot.

“This will ease the traffic congestion in Majestic. People can take the shuttle service from Majestic to Peenya to catch their buses,” he added. The minster said the matter would be discussed with the chief minister before the issuance of the final order to shift the services to Peenya depot.

Auto permits

He said the department would take up a special drive to weed out illegally running autorickshaws in Bangalore.

According to department, there are 1.30 lakh autorickshaws in Bangalore, with at least 20,000 of them being operated without valid permits. Reddy said that the department would give the illegal autorickshaws an opportunity to obtain valid permits from the department, or get their vehicles seized.

Besides, Reddy said the department would issue stringent rules for giving permits to new autorickshaws.

“There is a possibility that these auto permits may be misused by finance companies and other vested interests, by securing permits in a beneficiary’s name and leasing it out to others. Hence we have decided to give permits to only those beneficiaries who have a valid Drivers License and badges issued by the RTO,” said Reddy.

A delegation of auto drivers, in this regard, had appealed to the department to stop issuing permits under the quota system for physically challenged and women, prescribed by the previous BJP government. It is said that the department had reserved 4,500 auto permits for women and the physically challenged.

The BJP government had also exempted the requirement of a DL for those who wanted permits to run an autorickshaw.

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(Published 14 August 2014, 20:44 IST)

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