Kolkata: Private bus operators will protest at Governor House demanding reduction of diesel price, exemption of equated monthly installment (EMI) of their vehicles and other issues on Tuesday.
Petrol prices in metros received a hike for the second consecutive day on Monday. In Kolkata, petrol saw a hike of 12 paise. At present, the price of one litre petrol is 82.30 in Kolkata.
"We will protest at Governor House at 3 pm on August 18 and then give a deputation to Bengal Governor Jagdeep Dhankhar. Today, we have also sent a letter to all district magistrates in the state urging private bus fare hike," said Tapan Banerjee, general secretary of Joint Council of Bus Syndicates. The deputation will seek exemption of EMI of buses from March till the situation normalises, reduction of diesel price, bus fare hike, waiver of insurance premium and withdrawal of toll tax for private buses. The private bus operators claimed that the ticket sale proceeds do not even cover the diesel cost that has now shot up to Rs 77.06 per litre. "We are suffering losses because private busses are running according to the seating capacity to maintain physical distance," pointed out Banerjee.
On August 6, the Bengal government waived motor vehicles tax, route permit fees and additional tax for private buses and mini-buses giving relief to their owners at this critical time of COVID-19.
While the tax for a private bus is around Rs 1700 per quarter, it varies between Rs 1300 to Rs 1400 per quarter for a mini-bus.
There is no additional tax for private buses and mini-buses. For inter-district express buses, the total tax also includes the additional one which stands at around Rs 4200 per
quarter. However, a bus operator needs to pay minimum
Rs 5000 as route permit fees a year.