Bengal private bus operators seek relief after free ride scheme

Private bus operators in West Bengal claim revenue losses following the introduction of free bus travel for women on state-run services. They have urged the government to adopt a kilometre-based operational scheme to offset losses and ensure the sector's viability

Kolkata: Free ride for women on West Bengal government-run buses has been a welcome move for many. However, private bus operators say they have been suffering losses due to the outflux of women passengers to state-run buses and higher fuel costs.

To offset losses, operators are seeking support from the state government through a “kilometre scheme”, under which the transport department integrates privately owned buses into its fleet, while owners provide drivers and maintain the vehicles for a fixed payment per kilometre operated.

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The secretary of the Joint Council of Bus Syndicates, Tapan Banerjee, said every private bus owner is suffering a revenue loss of Rs 500 to Rs 700 daily following the introduction of free travel for women in state government buses.

He said that private buses are the backbone of public transportation in West Bengal, accounting for the travel of more than 85 per cent of passengers.

“Women passengers are availing government-run buses wherever available, resulting in a decrease in passengers for private buses,” he told PTI. Banerjee said that when a mother takes her girl child to school and gets her back in the afternoon, that accounts for four tickets bought. But this revenue is lost due to the free travel option on state government-run buses.

“Women passengers are opting for state-run buses wherever available to save expenditure on conveyance,” he said. Rahul Chatterjee, the general secretary of All Bengal Bus Minibus Coordination Committee, said it would help private operators if the state government took over bus transport entirely, bringing private buses under its umbrella through the kilometre scheme.

“It will help both the passengers as well as private operators as we won’t have to worry about operating losses,” he told PTI. Under the kilometre scheme operational in some states, private operators buy and maintain the buses, and supply the drivers, while the state transport department integrates these buses into its fleet.

The buses use state-run routes and are managed by government conductors. Private owners are paid a fixed rate per kilometre operated, while the government collects all passenger fares to cover the per-kilometre running cost.

About the free travel for women in state buses, both Banerjee and Chatterjee said it was up to the government to decide on its policies.

The BJP government has introduced free travel for women in buses of West Bengal Transport Corporation, South Bengal State Transport Corporation and North Bengal State Transport Corporation, following up on its promise for the recently-concluded assembly polls.

Chatterjee said that there has been some decrease in passenger traffic for buses which ply on routes where there is a good frequency of government-run buses.

“In routes like Siliguri-Cooch Behar, there are ample state-run buses, and there is a loss of passengers for private buses,” Chatterjee said.

He said the same is the situation on some bus routes from Howrah railway station to different parts of Kolkata. Chatterjee also lamented that bus fares have not been increased by the government for about nine years. “Bus fares were last increased in 2018 when the present chief minister held the charge of the transport department (in the then TMC government),” he said.

He claimed that bus fares have been consistently increased in several other states to keep parity with fuel costs, but that has not been done in Bengal.

While bus and taxi fares have not been officially raised since 2018, private buses have been charging higher fares since fuel prices increased after the COVID period.

“Diesel prices have increased by about Rs 10 per litre in just about a month in May this year, but the fares have remained unchanged,” Chatterjee said.

Mohammed Jubair, a conductor on a bus on route number 73 in Howrah city, said they have not suffered any decrease in passengers since there is no competition from state buses on that route.
Subho Das, another conductor on a bus that plies on a north-south route across Kolkata, said that they have suffered a decrease in passengers since the introduction of free rides for women passengers.