Bus Syndicate urges Chief Minister to address Election requisition issue

Kolkata: A joint body of private bus operators has sought the intervention of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee over the requisition of buses for the 2026 Assembly election, citing confusion over procedures and payment terms.

In a statement, the Joint Council of Bus Syndicates said buses were being taken off the roads even though the poll schedule had not yet been announced. The body said it had already written to the transport minister and the transport secretary, urging the authorities to coordinate with operators of specific routes instead of requisitioning buses directly from the roads.

The operators said the government had not yet decided the daily payment per bus, excluding diesel, for election duty.

“Until discussions are completed, taking buses directly from roads in this manner is unethical. We are seeking the intervention of the chief minister and the transport minister,” the Council’s secretary, Tapan Banerjee, said in a statement.

Transport bodies said the police action had created concern among operators of buses, school buses, and app-based cabs. They said vehicles were usually collected through regional transport offices for election duties, but the practice of handing requisition notices directly to drivers on the road had led to confusion.

Rahul Chatterjee, general secretary of the All Bengal Bus Minibus Samannay Samiti, said sudden requisition without a defined procedure was creating complications and that there were instances of the same vehicle being served notices from more than one police station or commissionerate.

Pradip Narayan Basu, general secretary of the West Bengal Bus and Minibus Owners’ Association, said issuing requisition notices before the election schedule was announced had increased confusion among owners. Police sources said that although election dates had not been announced, instructions had been issued to arrange around 6,000 vehicles across 27 traffic guard areas in Kolkata. Of these, about 1,500 would be buses and the rest smaller vehicles, to be used for transporting central forces for route marches, area domination, and other election-related duties.