Pvt bus operators upset by tax hike; fares may increase

Mangalore Today News Network

Mangaluru, March 19,2016 : A flat 50 per cent increase in the motor vehicle tax for private stage carriage buses, proposed in the State Budget, has upset operators who could seek increase in fares to pass on the burden to the passengers.

Private operators are the rulers in Dakshina Kannada, Udupi, Shivamogga, Chikkamagaluru, Davanagere, Chitradurga districts and have a large presence in many other districts in south Karnataka.

Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, justifying the hike, said in his budget speech that the motor vehicle taxes payable by private bus operators had not been increased since 2010-11. Accordingly he proposed to increase the taxes payable per seat per quarter from Rs. 600 to Rs. 900 for stage carriage service buses, from Rs. 300 to Rs. 450 for stage carriage city buses, from Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 1,500 for contract carriage as well as stage carriage buses operating on special permits and from Rs. 2,750 to Rs. 3,500 for All India Tourist Omni Buses.

Sources in the Transport Department said that the government intended to offset complete exemption in road tax offered to electric vehicles by enhancing taxes on private buses. CM Siddaramaiah said that an additional tax revenue of Rs. 121 crore was expected from the proposed hike.

K. Rajavarma Ballal, president of the Federation of Karnataka Bus Operators Association, told media that the duty hike would have a direct impact on the business of the operators, who were already struggling to run the services. They would have no other option but to pass on the burden to the passengers by seeking a hike in fares before the respective regional transport authorities.

He said, “People with decent income have now moved on to private modes of transport, while it is only the working class and farmers who largely depend on bus service. The Siddaramaiah government, which claims to be pro-poor, has proved the opposite with the tax hike.”