Mangaluru
Private bus owners in Dakshina Kannada have sought immediate relief from the frequent increase in advance tax slab and unhealthy competition from the KSRTC.
Dakshina Kannada Bus Operators Association President Azeez Parthippady said that the private bus industry will collapse in the district in the next few years, if the situation continues.
The owner of a 50-seat private bus has to pay Rs 50,000 advance tax once every three months. However, for KSRTC, the payment of advance tax is based on the collection. Meanwhile, the tax amount for private buses is increased every year, he said at a media interaction organised by the Dakshina Kannada Working Journalists’ Association.
Further, KSRTC buses pose unhealthy competition to private buses, by operating on the routes where there are enough private buses, he said, adding that the KSRTC fails to operate in interior areas where connectivity is poor.
He said the facilities of the Yeshasvini Scheme and other benefits given to KSRTC employees should be extended to their counterparts in private buses too. Though private buses provide concessions for students, the government has not reimbursed the amount so far. Fee concession to the tune of Rs 19 crore has benefited over seven lakh students in the city in the last 45 years, he said.
The Shakti scheme has affected the private buses in Dakshina Kannada, especially on the Mangaluru-Surathkal and Mangaluru-Mudipu route where there are KSRTC buses, said association former president Dilraj Alva. We have been demanding the district administration and RTO to rationalise the timings of the buses after conducting a scientific study, Alva said.
