‘School transport panels will decide bus fee hike’

School bus service providers have cited the rising fuel prices and the newly announced safety norms for school buses to justify the hike. Anil Garg,president of SBOA,said,“Each bus owner will have to shell out a huge sum to implement the guidelines. Even fuel prices have increased. It will not be possible for us to implement the guidelines if bus fee is not hiked.” SBOA runs over 7,000 school buses in Mumbai,Navi Mumbai and Thane.

Bus owners said appointing a lady attendant in each bus will be difficult and there is no need for speed governors in buses. “ I own six buses,however,have so far I have managed to get only two lady attendants. They demand huge salaries. The guideline to install speed governors in all school buses does not make sense. Our school buses do not ply on highways,” Pravesh Nair,a school bus service provider,said.

The providers also objected to the guideline that limits the age of a school bus in Mumbai to eight years (in case of CNG vehicle it is 15 years). “We spend Rs 1.5-2 lakh on each bus every year and then we will have to scrap it after eight years. We plan to discuss the issue with the transport commissioner and transport minister,”

Garg said.