BENGALURU: Recently, the Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) and Transport Minister DC Thammanna brought up the possibility of a transport cess to compensate for the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation’s (BMTC) losses.
Citizens would have to pay a two per cent cess along with the property tax, should this be implemented. The reasons cited in reports was that BMTC incurs ` 30 crore in losses due to bad roads, which they should be compensated for.
However, BMTC’s ex-chairman, Nagaraju Yadav, believes that this is not the right way to handle the situation. “While the idea is that BBMP collect taxes to compensate for BMTC’s losses, the reality is that it won’t actually reach the BMTC entirely. Moreover, the corporation already pays a property tax for its Traffic and Transit Management Centres (TTMC) and depots. This cess will only add to it,” says Nagaraju, adding that despite being an essential service, the corporation does not receive relief from paying for diesel, water, electricity, GST, etc.
He points out that levying more such taxes or cess could burden commuters. “Ultimately, the passenger pays indirectly. Increased taxes may pass on to the commuter, who is already paying other taxes. Why should they pay for bad roads? Instead, a congestion cess must be levied on private car and two-wheeler owners, to encourage them to take up public transport,” Nagaraju says, adding, “On one hand, we encourage Ola, Uber and the Metro. On the other hand, we increase taxes for BMTC.”
When asked about his opinion, managing director of BMTC, Ponnuraj, says, “We are not sure how the transport cess will benefit us, as the idea is not clear yet. If they collect the cess and deposit it toward the transport fund, then it will come to BMTC. If BBMP says road construction is part of transport, then we won’t get the money.”
‘Corporation citing BMTC losses as excuse’
Transport expert from Praja RAAG and Bicycle Mayor, Sathya Sankaran, explains the possible impact it could have on people and the BMTC. He says, “The fear is that the cess collected won’t actually come back to the BMTC. It may be used up for road-widening projects, maintenance, elevated corridors, etc.” Sankaran adds, “BBMP has one job — to build good roads. They are unable to do that with the existing budget allocation, and want to charge citizens more money, citing BMTC’s losses as an excuse. As BMTC is already paying property tax on its numerous TTMCs and depots, they too worry that this will add to the burden.” There is little clarity on how the cess is expected to benefit the BMTC, and the final decision is yet to be taken by the BBMP council this week.