KARACHI: Transporters reluctant to run buses under UTS
KARACHI, March 16: Out of the 14 qualified operators of the Urban Transport Scheme (UTS), jointly launched by the provincial and the city governments, only one company has brought 28 new buses in Karachi, while others have expressed reservations, over the scheme, to the city government.
According to an announcement made by the city Nazim Naimatullah Khan, at a meeting held on Nov 3, last year, the 14 transporters who had qualified for the UTS were, Daewoo ptv Ltd, Karachi Green Bus company, Allied Services, Waqar Enterprises, World Wide motors, Blue Lines, BRR International, Gul Enterprise, Pearl Transport, Rawalpindi Coach Service, Rapid Transit Service, Altaf Shah Rukh Enterprises, Al-Aziz Route Transport Co Hermain Group and the Pak-Saudi Investment Group (Hermain group).
All these transport companies had committed to bring in 695 buses during the current year and about 1,800 buses the following year, but only the Green Bus company, that has been working at public transport venture in the city for last couple of years, has brought 28 new buses in Karachi, which are already plying at two routes.
No other company has been able to present any proof about the arrival of even the minimum, 25 buses, to the transport department, four months after receiving the official pre-qualification letters.
According to sources in the Transport and Communication department (TCD) of the City Government, the Hermain group, Allied services, Grey Horse and some other operators had promised to bring, at least, the minimum buses in the city in March, but somehow they have delayed the venture till the next month.
Whereas, many of the operators have expressed their resentment over the policies of the City Government regarding the allotment of bus terminals and bus stops to other parties, despite the promises made to them.
Naib Nazim, Lyari Town, Malik Mohammad Khan, one of the directors of the Pearl Transport, has written a strong letter to the TCD, asking the department to ensure that depots and bus stops would be allotted to the company.
In his letter, Mr Khan has pointed out that without the administrative control over the depot, no bus-operator can ensure systematic working of its workshop, service station, and even the fuel station, besides this he has demanded that the advertisement revenue from the bus stops should be used to support the finances of companies.
Some of the operators have even objected to the debt equity ratio that is 30:70 between the investment to be made by operator and the loans from any financial institution.
Among the participants of the UTS, only Allied services has expressed its interest in establishing the bus stops on build-operate-transfer (BOT) basis, as offered by the Transport and Communications Department (TCD).
According to district officer, Public Transport, Mohammad Ather, these conditions have been imposed keeping in view the results of the previous transport policies announced by successive governments.
Transport ventures, most of the time, ended in loss and the operator was unable to return the loans, resulting in failure of the scheme, therefore, the Sindh Cabinet decided to increase the investment ratio to ensure the interest of the operator, the DO said.
The major incentive under the UTS for these operators is the mark up subsidy reimbursement, directly to them, at 6 per cent for non-air- conditioned and 9 per cent for the AC buses, but the buses must be brand new and a minimum fleet of 25 buses is required to avail the incentive.
According to the TCD, the city needs about 500 large buses, which is also the target of this scheme, but the provincial government has yet to transfer the amount of mark-up on the loans for the UTS, amounting to Rs146.26 million, while the City Government’s share in it is Rs61.58 million.
Another problem faced by the TCD is that the provincial transport department has not transferred four depots, namely, the Korangi bus depot, Landhi depot, Mehran depot in Model Colony, Malir and the Surjani bus terminals to the City Government.
A summary sent to the provincial finance department, about a year ago, asking them to complete the agreement between the transport department and the City Government to share the profits from these still non-functioning bus terminals, at the ratio of 80:20, respectively, is yet to be returned.—PPI
