Pvt bus operators stare at losing permits for altering routes
The Punjab Transport Department has initiated action against private bus operators for illegally running their buses beyond the permissible limit under the stage carriage permits.
Several transporters have been found clubbing different route permits for profits in violation of the Punjab Motor Vehicles Rules, 1980.
The beneficiaries include companies owned by political bigwigs, who buy permits of small operators for different routes and get them transferred in their names from the Regional Transport Authorities (RTAs) in Patiala, Jalandhar, Ferozepur and Bathinda and then getting the permits clubbed in an illegal manner.
RTAs hold hearings
A senior government official confirmed that the RTAs in Patiala, Jalandhar, Ferozepur and Bathinda have started giving personal hearing to all violators before proceeding further. The next step would be to cancel the permits. Though the Transport Department has not given the total number of notices issued to transporters, sources said the figure was around 500.
A senior government official confirmed that the RTAs in Patiala, Jalandhar, Ferozepur and Bathinda have started giving personal hearing to all violators before proceeding further. The next step would be to cancel the permits.
Not only the private bus operators, in some cases, the permits have been clubbed by the state transport undertakings, like the PRTC and Punjab Roadways. Though the department has not given the total number of notices issued to transporters, sources said the figure was around 500.
Recently, Transport Minister Laljit Singh Bhullar had ordered a comprehensive scrutiny of all composite permits after all four RTAs were found clubbing the stage carriage bus permits illegally in violation of the rules.
The anomaly has already been pointed out by the Transport Secretary to the RTAs. The department has observed several irregularities, including the clubbing of permits for different routes, issuance of multiple composite permits disguised as a single entity and the unauthorised retention of excess return trips instead of their mandated surrender.
Instead of issuing one permit, a number of permits have been bunched together to look like one. Instead of surrendering the excess trips, the same have been clubbed illegally, the department has pointed out. Irrespective of the party in power, the practise of clubbing the bus permits has been going for the last many years.
The department flagged the anomaly in response to a surge of legal challenges in the Punjab and Haryana High Court, where various operators have contested the legitimacy of illegally clubbed or composite stage carriage permits in route timetables. The high court had directed the department to give personal hearing to the operators before proceeding further.
