Pvt operators seek Bengal govt nod to run state-owned buses via PPP model

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A body of private bus operators in West Bengal has urged the state transport department to allow its members whose 15-year-old vehicles need to be scrapped by August to opt for a public-private-partnership model in which they can run state-owned buses against a monthly payment.

The association sent a letter to Transport Minister Snehasis Chakraborty on Tuesday to allow such operators to opt for the PPP model, known as Bus Franchise Operators (BFOs), on a bigger scale and save them from financial losses, Joint Council of Bus Syndicate General Secretary Tapan Banerjee told PTI.

In compliance with a Calcutta High Court order, 15-year-old buses and other commercial vehicles are required to be phased out from city roads.

The buses, which hit roads in 2009 or 2010 will stop running in 2024 or 2025.

Banerjee said that as part of the PPP model, private operators can run non-operating state-owned buses and pay Rs 14,000 a month to the transport corporation concerned.

Already private operators are running 14 buses displaying the BFO board on the Baruipur-Howrah station route, he said.

"The state transport department used to run three and four buses with two trips each on the route. With this new arrangement, the private operators are running all 14 buses with 4-5 trips a day," a transport department official said.

He also said four more routes connecting northern suburbs with the city hub and Howrah with the south Kolkata destinations will be functional before pujas in October as over 30 private operators have already shown interest.

Banerjee said, Many bus owners will face crisis if their 15-year-old vehicles are scrapped as they don't have the wherewithal to buy new BS 6 compliant vehicles which will cost Rs 25-30 lakh.

The association had previously urged the state government to provide a two-year window to vehicles that had remained largely idle due to the Covid situation for two years, he said.

"But there was no favourable response from the transport department. In the present situation, if these bus owners are permitted to opt for the BFO scheme under the PPP model, it will partially revive the private bus industry," he said.

According to the phasing-out norms, 90 per cent of the 32,000-odd private buses plying in the city and its adjoining areas will be off the roads between July 2024 and July 2025, Banerjee said earlier.

A senior transport official welcomed the proposal of the bus operators' body and said they are open to discussions on this issue.

However, the buses will have to be kept in state depots and complete the trips without curtailing the routes, he said.