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Nagpur: Even as the NMC flying squad found all the ticketless passengers in a red bus enroute Sitabuldi from Shanti Nagar on Tuesday, the financial backbone of the city bus services have reached the pathetic state and the operations may be shut down soon. Seeing the mounting dues on NMC, the Red bus operators of Aapli Bus being run by BJP ruled Nagpur Municipal Corporation have once again threatened to stop city bus operation from August 9.
However these operators failed to comment over the glitch being committed in operating the buses. “Who should be held responsible for these ticketless travellers? The practice is prevalant along all the routes and then they cry over the loss? Its high time they should tightened the things at operational level and check for such loopholes to tide over the spillage,” a source from NMC told Nagpur Today.
Meanwhile, few cheques issued by the operators to fuel and spare parts suppliers bounced on Tuesday. In a letter to NMC’s municipal commissioner Virendra Singh, chief accounts officer and transport manager, the operators claimed their current outstanding amount has crossed Rs 14 crore each as the civic body has failed to clear dues since April this year.
Despite this, they have been providing their best services to the city as per RFP and extended best possible credit by top-up loan, Cash Credit limit, overdraft loan, money market credit, unsecured loans and Non-Banking Finance Corporation credit bill loans, they claimed.
“Our limits have been exhausted and our post-dated cheques to financers have started bouncing, salary of drivers and maintenance staff for July 2018 is still pending,” they stated in the letter. “There is total damage to our business due to overly delayed payments and hence, until we receive minimum Rs 6 crore each, we will not be in a position to run the city bus services smoothly with effect from August 9,” they stated.
Meanwhile on Tuesday, NMC flying squad found a bus packed with almost all the ticketless passengers. The role of Delhi Integrated Multi-modal Transit System Limited (DIMTS) which is supposed to oversee work of all the city bus operators, is also found to be suspicious in the matter.
A few buses may go idle from Wednesday itself for the same. No financer was giving them credit as their cheques were being dishonoured, admitted transport committee chairman Bunty Kukde. Kukde said the committee was trying hard to clear their dues so commuters did not suffer.
