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Time of India
03-07-2025
- Business
- Time of India
No fine for pvt buses during passengers pick up, drop
Nagpur: In a move that has sparked mixed reactions, Maharashtra transport commissioner Vivek Bhimanwar on Wednesday directed that private buses holding All India Tourist Permits (AITP) will no longer be penalised for halting temporarily to pick up or drop passengers. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now The instruction, issued after a July 2 meeting chaired by state transport minister Pratap Sirnaik, follows repeated complaints from operators about being fined by traffic police and RTO officials even during brief halts. The directive cites a central notification — GSR 302(E) dated April 18, 2023 — which exempts AITP buses from parking penalties if they are stationary solely for passenger boarding or alighting. Officials clarified that challans must not be issued in such cases, offering long-sought relief to the private bus lobby. However, the order has raised fresh concerns for Nagpur's traffic management machinery, which is already grappling with rampant congestion caused by over 800 private travel buses operating daily in the city. As per a recent study by the city traffic police under then DCP Archit Chandak and ACP Madhuri Baviskar, these buses — many of which head to or arrive from neighbouring states like Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Uttar Pradesh, Gujarat, and Telangana and even intra-city destinations like Pune, Chhatrapati Sambhaji Nagar, Mumbai, Yavatmal, Chandrapur, Gadchiroli, etc — are creating daily gridlocks by halting at busy intersections and arterial roads during peak hours. From Baidyanath Chowk and Cotton Market Square to Residency Road in Sadar and Central Avenue, major bottlenecks have become routine, especially in the evenings when passenger movement surges. Key squares like Geetanjali, Indora, Automotive, Bole Petrol Pump square, Ravi Nagar, and Campus square are among the worst hit, with buses regularly blocking lanes while loading or unloading passengers. "This constant obstruction leads to severe traffic snarls and poses a major hazard to commuters," said a senior traffic official. Tired of too many ads? go ad free now Manas Chowk, Liberty Chowk, Sneha Nagar, and Jagnade Chowk are also among the hotspots where complaints from frustrated motorists have been pouring in. Last month, Nagpur police commissioner Ravinder Singal proposed a ban on private bus operations in the city citing worsening vehicular chaos. That proposal may lose steam in light of the transport department's latest directive, which, while favouring bus operators, may further strain civic order during busy hours.
New Indian Express
06-05-2025
- Business
- New Indian Express
Luxury bus operators hail halt to ‘unlawful' tax levy in Kerala
KOCHI: The association of luxury bus operators in Kerala has welcomed the Centre's move to remove the option for collecting taxes from inter-state passenger buses from the parivahan website, saying it would halt the 'unlawful' collection of taxes by states like Kerala and Tamil Nadu. The association alleged that despite the bus owners paying up to Rs 3 lakh in the name of the All India Tourist Permit (AITP), state governments like Kerala and Tamil Nadu were unlawfully collecting taxes from buses, thereby burdening the operators. 'Though the states receive their share from the permit amount, the governments were still collecting taxes from us while citing losses as the excuse,' alleged said A J Rejin, the association president. On April 25, the Centre removed the tax levying options for AITP private passenger vehicles from the parivahan website. 'If the tax collection resumes in future, we will have to take steps like halting services,' he told reporters at the Ernakulam Press Club on Monday.
