Call to bring bus services under cooperative societies

A draft public transport policy readied by the Motor Vehicles Department (MVD) has suggested aggregation of private buses in Kerala under the cooperative sector or under limited liability partnership (LLP) companies, what with their number falling from approximately 35,000 over a decade ago to 10,000 now.

Vast number of buses were operating under the label of cooperative societies till about two decades ago, till the influx of private vehicles, increase in operational expenses, and mismanagement led to their downturn.

“This was also because many such societies were not sound in the business principles of operating buses, despite the many advantages of being arrayed under a cooperative society. Cumbersome decision-making norms and undue political leanings of such societies too were contributory factors. Still, there is hope, as shown by the success saga of Uralungal Labour Contract Co-operative Society [ULCCS]. Such bodies have the potential to venture into the public transport sector,” said a stakeholder who was associated with readying the draft public transport policy.

There is a need to sustain the private bus sector in the State, since the KSRTC operates only limited number of services and is still neck-deep in debt owing to inefficiency. The spree of accidents involving the fleet of KSRTC-SWIFT buses that were recently introduced on long-distance routes owing to appointment of drivers with little or no experience has further eroded the agency’s credibility, he said. It is not the case in most other States, where State transport undertakings dominate the public transport sphere, and they have operational flexibility.

Public transport experts have for long been advocating the formation of LLP companies, as was done with the approximately 1,000 city and mofussil private buses that operated from Kochi four years ago. They were arrayed under five LLP companies, helping rein in operational expense and lessen rash driving.