MARGAO: Tourist bus operators from South Goa have alleged that local passenger route buses accept private contracts resulting in high revenue losses for the over 100 tourist buses.
Tourist bus operators also alleged that the Road Transport Office (RTO) patrol officers have connived with the passenger route buses and don’t punish the offenders. An operator told Herald that when he complained about one such incident to the RTO, stones were pelted at his house that night.
Local passenger route buses have started taking passengers to weddings, funerals and birthday parties at night, which under the Motor Vehicles Act they are not allowed, tourist bus operators alleged.
A tourist bus operator told Herald that he pays Rs 8000 road tax for his two buses every month. In addition to that he has to spend on repairs, but gets one or two minor contracts per month which leads to heavy losses.
The President of South Goa Tourist bus operators association Remedio Dias said, “My business is down. Added to that I am paying Rs 35,000 monthly loan instalment on the loan I drew to buy the bus. I am utterly helpless as the authorities don’t even bother to act on such illegalities of the local bus owners.”
He also told Herald that he and his fellow operators faced heavy losses during the lent season as there are no parties or weddings, and the funeral trips were snatched by the local buses. “I have been refuelling my bus on a one month credit basis due to this,” Dias said.
A RTO inspector from Margao maintained that they do act on the complaints. RTO sources said that if passenger route buses go off the road because of their vigilance, the people in the locality complain of travelling problems.
