BENGALURU: When the transport department officials recently caught an Arunachal Pradesh-registered sleeper-coach luxury bus in the city, the owner had said that he got the vehicle only three days ago, which was the reason for non-payment of road tax.
But the vehicle had permit and fitness certificate from Arunachal Pradesh with effect from August this year. This means that the vehicle was registered and got fitness certificate from the north- eastern state before the owner actually got the bus delivered from the manufacturer.
According to sources, many of these buses which are registered in north- eastern states do not adhere to the safety standards and are running without proper fitness certificates, risking the lives of passengers.
“There are several touts in the city who get the registration and fitness process done without even taking the vehicle to north- east states. It is hassle free and also saves money and time,” said a driver of one the private luxury bus.
An increasing number of these buses, plying in the state are being registered in Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Odisha and Puducherry. This is mainly because of two reasons - restrictions in getting permits from Karnataka for customised sleeper-coach luxury buses and Karnataka has the highest road tax in the country.
Bhairava Siddaramaiah, president of Karnataka Maxi Cab and Motor Cab Owners Association said, “Permit regulations for sleeper-coach luxury buses in Karnataka is forcing many of the private luxury bus owners to head to north- east states to get their vehicles registered. We have been demanding transport department to give permits, to customised sleeper-coach luxury buses and also to reduce the road taxes in Karnataka. But, there has been no response from the authorities so far,” he said.
A senior transport official said, “We cannot give permits to the buses which has both sleeper and sitting seats.”
“Many private buses are converting one sleeper seat into two sitting seats to make more money in violation of rules and also compromising on the safety of passengers,” he added.
“We don’t have a mechanism to cross check whether the documents are genuine. The increasing number of vehicles registered in such states are raising safety concerns, but unfortunately we cannot take any action against such violators. And, it is not illegal to register a vehicle in north- east states but they will have to pay the road tax here as well” he said.
Sources say such buses have to pay quarterly taxes in Karnataka, which is calculated on the basis of the number of seats.
SRS Travels founder KT Rajashekar said, there is an increasing demand among the commuters for the sleeper-coach luxury buses which is suitable for overnight journeys.
“Unfortunately most southern states are reluctant to give permits for the customised buses. We are forced to spend an additional cost of `1.5 lakh to take the bus all the way to Arunachal Pradesh and also we have to pay the quarterly road tax here.”