Pvt operators jeopardise passenger safety

The horrific accident that incinerated 43 people inside a luxury bus near Hyderabad on Wednesday morning has sent a stern message to planners and operators of privately run public transport systems.

Accidents happen due to human error, but in the private sector transport system, errors are engineered owing to the blatant pursuance of commercial interest at the cost of safety, says a source from the KSRTC Union.

Private operators are heavily indebted to banks to meet their financial obligations that they run the buses round the clock with different drivers, giving little or no scope for maintenance of the vehicles, he adds.

Private companies evince interest in taking up service only on routes that are within 400 kilometres from the starting point, which could be covered in eight hours, say state transport officials. These include routes like Bangalore–Chennai, Bangalore–Hyderabad, Bangalore–Mangalore–Udupi, Bangalore–Shimoga and Bangalore–Bellary.

Many of them run three trips in just 24 hours, according to trade Union leader Vasanth Achari. 
“Sometimes they make drivers to take a shift of 16 hours, which puts passenger safety in serious jeopardy,” says Hanumanth Kamath, a consumer activist.

“If the bus is laden with more luggage than its Registered Laden Weight (RLW), it is a clear violation of the Transport Act. If the bus carries more than the specified goods to passenger ration of 1:2, it would destabilise the vehicle, and its steering, suspension and brakes may not give the desired level of performance,” says transport commissioner Amar Narayan.

“We do have mechanisms to control operators who violate RLW norms, and our department takes up drives every now and then to educate transport operators on passenger safety and even book them for violations every day,” Narayan adds.

They not only load passengers, but also vegetables, fruits, and other commercial goods for transporting through intrastate and interstate routes, observes a member of the KSRTC Union.

“This is a partial violation of the Commercial Tax Act and a full violation of Road Transport Act.
Looking at the commercial tax angle, if there are valid receipts for the commercial taxes paid with the operator, it has to be validated. But most of these buses do not carry receipts, which means they carry commercial goods illegally. Our mobile squads do book many vehicles and collect commercial taxes from them to the tune of Rs 60-70 lakh per month,” remarks KV Thrilok Chandra, joint commissioner (enforcement) of commercial tax department.