The speeding of private buses and the risky travel in them may soon be a thing of past thanks to the recently-introduced private bus operators’ societies!
Yielding to the immense pressure from various quarters, the bus operators in the state, irrespective of their organisational leniency, have decided to initiate a collective effort for their survival which eventually led to the idea of associating buses under various societies, which seems to be highly successful. The concept of setting up societies incorporating buses plying on a particular route, which was first implemented in Kozhikode-Pantheerankavu route, has been expanding all over the state.
The basic principle of the society is to share the revenue from that particular route according to the total kilometre each bus has operated.
According to the terms and conditions of the Unity Transports, a society formed by bus owners who operate services along the Kottayam-Vaikom route via Kallara, each bus can take Rs 6,350 to Rs 7,000 from its daily collection as daily expense based on the total distance it runs. The excess amount should be paid to the society. The society, after excluding office expenses, will share its revenue equally to all the members, again taking into account the total distance covered by each bus. The paramount advantage of these societies is that they would end the competition between private buses, as the revenue would be shared equally by all. Moreover, there won’t be any collection incentives for employees, which was one of the prime attractions for competition.
“We have already formed societies in various routs in Kasargod, Kannur, Kozhikkode, Thrissur, Palakkad, Ernakulam and Kottayam districts. Also initiatives are under way to start societies in Thiruvananthapuram and Pathanamthitta. When societies start functioning in all districts we will constitute an apex body to monitor and amalgamate all societies,” said All Kerala Private Bus Operators Federation state general secretary T Gopinathan. Moreover, the bus owners believe that a collective effort is inevitable to counter the challenges being faced by the bus industry from various quarters as the total number of private buses in the state has fallen from 34,000 four years ago to merely 14,000 now.
“When the KSRTC buses were introduced in Ernakulam town, a total of 89 private buses had been pushed out from its routes. When the entire routes in the State join with the societies concerned we will be able to withstand the challenges,” said Ajith Lukkose, a bus owner and office- bearer of Kochi-Kottayam Intercity Transit Society.
According to N P Sathyan, Kerala Private Bus Operators Association state president, apart from diesel price hike, the industry has been facing various issues such as price hike of tyres and spare parts and lack of availability of employees.