KSRTC's foul play to favour private bus owners; Plans underway to hand over 240 routes to private sector

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Plans are underway to transfer 240 nationalized bus routes acquired by the KSRTC to the private sector. This move comes despite KSRTC's assurance to the High Court that it would provide adequate bus services on nationalized routes. Recently, KSRTC has been withdrawing services on many of these routes. Private bus owners will approach the court pointing out this as an issue. However KSRTC won't show diligence in opposing private bus owners' arguments in court, which often results in orders favouring the private sector while prioritizing passenger interests. There are complaints about a private bus obtaining a permit for the Thulapally-Ernakulam route, which was previously operated solely by KSRTC.

Most of the services from Kottayam, Idukki and Pathanamthitta districts to the Malabar region were nationalized and taken over by KSRTC. Private buses run limited stop services in these areas, often leading to decreased revenue for KSRTC buses following the same routes. Consequently, KSRTC has had to cancel several services due to insufficient collections.

In 2012, then-Transport Minister Aryadan Muhammad intervened to prevent KSRTC's revenue from being siphoned off by private buses on long-distance routes. The government issued a notification reserving super class permits exclusively for KSRTC and decided not to renew the superclass permits of private buses upon expiration.

Some private bus owners challenged this notification in the Supreme Court. In 2015, the Supreme Court upheld the government notification while Thiruvanjoor Radhakrishnan was the Transport Minister.