Virtually applying brakes on the Badals-controlled transport business, Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday approved the much-awaited State Transport Policy, abolishing the post of District Transport Officers (DTOs) besides restructuring the State Transport Department.
The Draft Transport Scheme-2017, approved in the Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh, is expected to streamline the issuance of permits and licences across commercial and private transport vehicles.
It has been decided that the State Government will gradually increase the State transport undertakings’ share in the luxury bus service, currently controlled by the Badals, to eventually make it State-controlled.
“The share of State Transport Authority, Punjab Roadways and PRTC in the inter-State, point-to-point super integral coach service on contract carriage basis will be increased gradually, eventually ending the private mafia control over these high-revenue bus routes,” said the official spokesperson.
To crackdown on all illegally plying buses over a period of two months and to weed out all such buses in a phased manner, a Special Task Force of Vigilance Department and the police would be set up.
Formulated in accordance with the guidelines issued by the Punjab and Haryana High Court and subsequently upheld by the Supreme Court, the scheme will be implemented after eliciting feedback from the public for 30 days, and then fine-tuned as per the inputs received.
“The Government will also seek three-month’s time from the court to implement the scheme in a phased manner to ensure that public is not inconvenienced as large number of buses are expected to be taken off the roads following its execution,” said the spokesperson, adding that permits of about 5,432 buses indulging in extension or diversion of routes, 6,700 mini buses, besides 78 integral luxury coaches, will be cancelled and allotted afresh once the scheme is implemented.
“The new scheme is aimed at addressing the issues from which the system had been suffering like favouritism in allotment of permits, extensions given beyond the legal provisions on pick and choose basis, etc, besides promoting use of technology to check unauthorized plying of buses resulting in huge evasion of Motor Vehicle Tax,” said the spokesperson.
Besides fixing time slabs for buses, the new scheme will also provide for equitable distribution of halting time at bus stands between the State Transport Undertaking (STU) and privately operated buses.
“A monthly roster will be prepared for private operators on a single route...Roster should also ensure that all private operators on a route get to operate buses at lean and high traffic times of a day equally, and timings of buses belonging to a particular operator on a route shall be clubbed to avoid unhealthy competition, provoking over speeding, concomitant discomfort to passengers and scare of accidents,” pointed spokesperson.
Set rules for allotting permits
Transport policy also laid down rules for allotment of permits and transfer, and the eligibility criteria and reservation to be followed shall be notified by the State Government in exercise of its powers under Section 71 of the Central Motor Vehicle Act, 1988.
Spokesperson said that in case, the number of eligible applications received for a particular route are more than number of permits that can be granted for such route, the permits shall be allotted by way of draw of lots.
In case of private operators, not more than 25 percent of total permits on a particular route shall be issued to one firm, party or person.
Permits issued and later renewed under the Scheme shall be valid for a period of five years from the date of issue, and renewal.
No transfer of permits shall be allowed, except in case of replacement of a bus, or, in case of inheritance due to death of an individual permit holder.
A permit holder shall be liable for penal action and cancellation of permit, as prescribed under the Motor Vehicle Act, 1988, and under the Punjab Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989, in case of non-compliance of terms and conditions of the permit or any breach of conditions specified in the Scheme.
The new policy also provides for stipulation of Motor Vehicle Tax as proportionate to the reference fares notified by the State Government, and where there exists a reciprocal arrangement with other States or UTs, rate of tax shall be equal to the rate charged by the other State or UT.
For buses running on rural roads, the tax shall be lump sum Rs 30,000 per annum, which shall increase five percent every year in compounded manner.
Restructuring of Transport Department
Besides doing away with the system of DTOs, the Government’s move to restructure the Transport Department will provide for registration of personal vehicles by the SDMs, with driving licences to be issued on 32 Automated Driving Test Tracks itself by Assistant Transport Officers.
The work related to commercial vehicles will be handled by 11 Regional Transport Authority (RTA) offices, which will do registration, licensing, permit issuance, and tax collection, besides registering personal vehicles.
Six additional posts of RTAs secretary will be created to fill in the gap created by the abolition of the 22 DTO posts. In addition, 10 Assistant RTOs will be posted in the office of RTA secretary and one each on 32 Automated Driving Test Tracks.
ARTOs will exercise powers of Registering and licensing depending upon their office of posting, and will be responsible for enforcement duties in the same manner as the RTAs secretary for their areas of jurisdictions.
Secretaries will be tasked with issuance of registration certificates, driving licenses for transport vehicles, conductor licenses, private service vehicle permits and contract carriage permits, supervision and checking of pollution check centres, enforcement duties with respect to tax collections, traffic/permit/route violations, Motor Vehicles Tax collection from the Stage Carriage Buses belonging to both the STUs and the Private Operators.
Rs 100 cr road safety fund set up
Punjab Cabinet has decided to set up a Rs 100 crore Road Safety Fund, in accordance with the Supreme Court guidelines of 2016, to enhance public safety on the roads and to minimise road fatalities.
The Fund, on the pattern of a similar fund created by Kerala in 2007, would be set up by diverting 50 per cent of compounding fee collected by road enforcement agencies, like Police and the Transport departments.
Besides spreading road safety awareness, the Fund will be utilised to enable automatic detection of over-speeding and overloading of vehicles, installation of GPS system for monitoring of passenger and goods public carriers, as well as automatic vehicles fitness certification machines.
The Fund would also go into making available various devices to the police to ensure road safety, such as body cameras, speed radars and breath analysers, besides, providing rescue and post-accident care services.
Abolishes truck unions
To end cartelisation, the Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday approved rules which bar goods carriage operators from forming cartels or unions in the state. Affecting as many as 134 truck unions in the state, the cabinet gave its nod to the Punjab Goods Carriages (Regulation and Prevention of Cartelisation Rules), 2017.
The new rules will be placed in public domain for 30 days for any comments or objections, said the spokesperson, adding that the move was aimed at destroying the “mafia of good transporters who had cartelised the business over the past several years, obstructing the free and fair movement of goods transport, thereby also impacting industrial development of the State”.
To protect the interests of the transporters, it was also decided that the Government should fix the minimum and maximum fares and freights for goods carriers, the spokesperson said.
Once these rules come into effect, no operator or permit holder of goods carriages shall be allowed to form a cartel denying freedom of choice to the consignors and consignees to engage the services of such operators or permit holders, the spokesperson said.
Sukhbir headed Shivalik Dhauladhar Tourism Board dissolved
Punjab Cabinet on Wednesday approved the dissolution of “redundant” Shivalik Dhauladhar Tourism Development Board, which was constituted and headed by former Deputy Chief Minister and SAD president Sukhbir Badal.
The Cabinet has decided to hand over the work of developing the area around Thein Dam at Ranjit Sagar lake as a tourism or theme destination to the Punjab Infrastructure Development Board (PIDB) — a move expected to relieve the cash-strapped State Government of an unnecessary financial burden.
The Cabinet noted that the Shivalik Dhauladhar Tourism Development Board had initiated the process of development of a tourist destination around the lake under PPP mode by taking funds from PIDB.
However, PIDB itself had sufficient funds and experience, as well as the necessary expertise, to execute a project of this scale and quality, the Cabinet further observed, adding that this made the role of Shivalik Dhauladhar Board completely redundant and entire exercise a wasteful expenditure, which the state could ill afford.