Bad Voyage For ST Buses

The hike in fares of State Transport buses has come as a real shocker in Maharashtra. The ST buses, marked by their red colour, are considered as common man’s vehicle for inter-city transport. The ST corporation, which manages the passenger transport in state, has introduced new fares from this month. Obviously, the public which was already reeling under the weight of inflation, has to bear additional burden, detrimental to the economy of the state. In all possibility, it might encourage illegal and worse, dangerous clandestine transport by private vehicles. It is a known fact that ST buses reach out to the most far away villages and hamlets in state, which are hitherto never approached by any other public transport utility.

The fares have been hiked by four per cent especially at a bad time. This is festival season in Maharashtra. The Ganesh festival has just concluded but Navratri, Dasara and Diwali are in the queue. The demand for oil, vegetables, cooking gas and other commodities touch a new high in this time. This is second fare hike of buses within six months. With this, the Maharashtra State Transport Corporation has become costliest public transport utility in India.

It might be interesting to see why ST buses have to undergo the hike in fares each time there is a hike in fuel prices, alienating its loyal passengers. The biggest detriment for the buses proves to be toll collection at booths, which is in place for a decade now. The government vehicles, including that of legislators, parliamentarians etc., are exempted from the toll charges. The same concession is not given to ST buses who have to shell out about Rs 200 Crores as toll charges on all roads in the Maharashtra. Then, the corporation pays Rs 700 per year to state government in the form of passenger tax.

About 40 per cent of ST corporation’s revenue is spent on paying salaries and conveyances of its staff. Another major portion is spent on purchase of fuels. Since the government of India has deregularised petroleum prices, the fluctuation in prices have become a routine affair. Another bane prove to be large number of concessions offered to passengers. The accredited journalists get 100 per cent rebate while senior citizens get 50 per cent off on ticket prices. Students are given likewise passes for monthly travel. Since majority of passengers, who are supposed to pay regular prices, prefer private buses, trains or own vehicles, the revenues have seen downward trend. Even when the revenue went up thanks to the hiked prices, profit margin of the corporation has never reached satisfactory level in the last two decades.

In this situation, it is really sad that the ST corporation choses to increase the burden on passengers instead of thinking of novel ways to pile up its revenues.

Read More

It is the Diwali time, the biggest festival in India. It is matched only to Christmas in the European countries in the proportion of celebration as well as trade. In view of the movement of the people, almost all mode of transport fail to provide adequate service. The private bus operators literally make hay during this time. There seem to be no body to control the scandalous malpractices of the trade.

The private tour operators have increased the bus fare for cities like Nagpur, Latur, Nanded and Solapur, where most of the people move during the Diwali vacations. Most of the young people residing in Pune, because of study or service, come from far places in Maharashtra. People coming from other state constitute less in the number compared to Maharashtrians. These people flock to bus stands to catch a vehicle to their respective village or town. But state road transport corporation (MSRTC) fail to provide adequate number of buses. This year, it is also handicapped by the large number of buses deployes in the service of election commission. Railways have limited trips and it does not have as wide reach as the road travel service have.

This lefts the traveller with little option but go for the private operators. These operators do not lose a chance to make profit during this time. A common ticket for seating chair bus costs Rs 250-300 in normal times. Just last week, I found it was being sold at Rs 500. Sleeper class bus ticket is normally available at Rs 300-350. It is now available at Rs 600. Compare this to the ticket fare charged by MSRTC which stands at Rs 330.

Regional Transport Office official make it clear each year that RTO does not have any control over the fare structure. It is upto these operators to decide the amount. RTO comes in picture only when the bus has more passengers than capacity or if any passenger complains. With short span of time in hand and too much confusing procedures, hardly anybody dares to do that. This leaves the road open to private operators.

Read More