Puducherry Road Transport Corporation at the crossroads
The Hindu
From a fleet strength of 141, the number has now come down to 65, but official hopeful
A combination of factors, including an ageing and dwindling fleet, and the advancement of private bus operators, have left a deep gash in the functioning of the government-run Puducherry Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) in the Union Territory.
Established in 1992 as Puducherry Tourism and Transport Development Corporation (PTTDC), the Corporation was bifurcated into PRTC in 2005. The Corporation was started to meet the expectations of the residents. But in course of time, the vision got a majority of the ailing buses of the PRTC was gradually edged out by private buses.
From a fleet strength of 141 including long-distance buses, the Transport Corporation’s strength has now come down to 65 buses depriving the people of a reliable bus transportation system. Officials say that many scheduled trips from Puducherry to Tirupati, Kumili and Mahe cannot even recover the cost of diesel, leave alone pay the wages of drivers and conductors.
According to sources, the financial losses of PRTC had been mounting each year and this had affected procurement of new buses and operation of services. The fleet was prone to frequent breakdowns, which led to high maintenance and revenue loss.
The intrusion by private operators into the working of the Corporation’s operation had made it more difficult to keep the services afloat for a corporation largely dependent on funds from the Puducherry government.
“The private operators have a thriving network of over 70% vehicles while PRTC owns the rest. The recent assault on the driver of a PRTC in Villianur by crew of a private bus has again brought to the fore the clash over timings between PRTC and the private operators,” he said.
“Private bus operators, in an attempt to get increase in ridership have been ‘enticing’ the PRTC crew with daily payments to change their timings. They have also been trying to change the routes of PRTC. Inquiries by the Corporation revealed that the private bus operators who were struggling to recover to the pre-pandemic levels had sublet operations to ‘checkers’ who don’t possess valid conductor’s license. This has come to our notice and the department has called for a meeting of all stakeholders over the issue,” the official added.