NAMAKKAL: The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) has been collecting a cess of Rs 1-10 from every passenger since January 20, 2018, which is supposed to be spent on toll fees, payment of compensation to accident victims, and funding accident prevention measures.
As per the State government's policy note 2021-22, a total of 3,739 cases involving compensation worth Rs 205.11 crore are pending in Lok-Adalat. The TNSTC has collected Rs 1,431.86 crore as cess between January 20, 2018 to July 31, 2021, of which, Rs 477.52 crore was spent on toll fee and Rs 531.79 crore to settle 10,081 accident claims. Simple math shows there is about Rs 400-odd crore that remains.
However, the money is spent on other expenses such as fuel and salary, alleged employees, affecting the on-time payment of compensation to victims. This has led to TNSTC buses being attached through court orders and the corporation retrieving it later after paying the compensation.
"Though TNSTC has maintained proper accounts in the paper, funds are not in hand because they have been utilising this cess for other regular expenses continuously," claimed K Arumuga Nainar, State general secretary of CITU (transport wing). "Hence, the State government should intervene in this issue and streamline cess-related expenditure," he added.
TNIE tried reaching out to the Transport Secretary, Dayanand Kataria, but he said he was out of station.
TNSTC operates 20,557 buses covering nearly 90 lakh-km of roads daily, engaging about 1.21 lakh staff including drivers, conductors, and technicians in eight zones. As per the Motor Vehicles Act, private or public vehicles need to take mandatory insurance every year. However, TNSTC has obtained an exemption in this regard. Instead, it collects cess from passengers based on the fare.
TNSTC also has a corpus fund for paying compensation with an annual contribution of `30 crore each from the corporation and State government. Transport employees union alleged the cess amount is not utilised in a transparent manner.
The Tamil Nadu Transport Staff Federation (TTSF) opined the collection of cess from passengers must be handed over to insurance companies. "While States like Karnataka take insurance for their government buses, why does TNSTC refuse to follow the Insurance Act?" questioned DV Padmanaban, State general secretary of TTSF. "Thousands of victims are waiting for their compensation. If TNSTC had insured its vehicles, the victims would have been able to get their money at the right time. Besides, to pursue cases in the court, TNSTC is spending lakhs of rupees, including advocates' fees," he added.
He further stated at least five drivers are dismissed from the service every year, citing accident reasons. "So, to avoid these bitter experiences, the cess should be surrendered to the insurance company," Padmanaban suggested.
A TNSTC official, who requested anonymity, said, "There are 20,000 buses, and taking insurance for each vehicle would become a tedious task. For that matter, the accident percentage is less than 20. That is why the corporation is taking all the responsibility."
About the court proceedings, the official added, "Considering the safety of the vehicle, the court is not involved in the attachment proceedings. Instead, the concerned buses are sealed by the court at the bus depots. After we pay the compensation, the officials remove the seal. As of now, less than 25 buses are sealed in the State because of the pandemic." He also cited the spike in fuel prices and free travel for women as reasons why the corporation finds it difficult to manage expenses.
