Two weeks after schools re-opened in city,800 private buses still ply without permit

Rajan Junawane,vice-president of Pune School Bus Association,said,“About 1,800 buses engaged in student transport are plying in the city. Of these,about 500 are owned by the schools and another 500 buses operated by the school management on a rental basis. However,for about 800 buses that are owned by private operators and paid for by parents themselves face a major hurdle. According to the 26-point criteria,it is mandatory for the private-bus owners to enter into a written agreement with the school management to be eligible to get the student transport permit. But the schools are refusing to sign any kind of agreement with the private bus owners,” said Junawane.

According to Junawane,to address the concerns of the schools,the government has issued a circular making it clear that notwithstanding the agreement with the bus owners,the school management will not be held responsible for any irregularities on part of the owner or any damage to the vehicle under any circumstances.

“Despite this,schools still refuse to sign an agreement. This is forcing bus owners to ply without a valid permit. We are being forced to break the law,” said Junawane.

According to a bus owner,not having the required permit results in bus owners ending up paying a lot of money as penalties to the traffic police and RTO.

“There are so many conditions and norms have been introduced by the RTO,like the one making it mandatory for school buses to have speed governors. We are complying with most of them. However,despite our efforts we can’t obtain a permit from the RTO because of schools’ non-cooperation. If caught plying without due permit,we are liable to huge penalties which can be as high as Rs 10,000 to 15,000,” said the bus owner on request of anonymity.

The owners have put forth this issue in the recently held meeting with the RTO,Pune Police Commissioner,DCP Traffic and school principals.

RTO officials said this issue was indeed a big concern and efforts were on to find a way out. “The norms have been formulated by the state government and we can’t relax them. We will have to persuade the school management to sign the agreement with the private school bus operators,” said an RTO official.