RAWALPINDI, Feb 24: The Punjab government has said the disbanded Varan bus company will not be allowed to participate in the March 2 bidding for a new bus service in the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad.

The provincial transport ministry has barred the company from taking part in the bidding on the ground that it was in default to the government and had been ‘illegally’ occupying the Chur Harpaal bus terminal for the last two years.

“Varan has yet to pay Rs4 billion to the provincial government for which the company has been sued in a court of law,” secretary Provincial Transport Authority (PTA) Agha Nadeem told Dawn on Saturday, adding that defaulter bus companies would not be allowed to participate in the bidding until they cleared their arrears.

Mr Agha said Varan Tours had closed its operations in the twin cities on February 21, 2005 without giving any notice to the government due to which commuters faced great troubles.

However, when contacted, Varan Tours chairperson Uzma Gul termed the government decision ‘illegal’ and ‘revengeful’ and vowed to resist it at every forum.

She denied that her company was in default to the government, and claimed that the Punjab government had to pay her Rs2 billion transport subsidy, adding that she had also moved the court in this regard.

But the secretary PTA said the cases filed by Varan Tours against the government had been rejected by the sessions court and the Lahore High Court’s Rawalpindi bench.

Mr Agha said the government had provided security to Varan Tours when its buses were plying in the twin cities but the abrupt closure of the bus service by the company was a unilateral and immature decision.

He said the provincial government had exempted 133 Varan buses from taxes worth Rs30.5 million, adding the company not only disappointed the passengers but also betrayed the government.

Currently, the Varan Tours has parked its 133 buses in the Chur Harpaal terminal and refuses to vacate the bus stand.

Interestingly, the provincial government has reached an agreement with a private bus company for constructing a multi-storey bus terminal at Chur Harpaal at a cost of Rs300 million.

The agreement has been inked between the PTA and Sami-Daewoo Bus Company which would construct the terminal at a covered area of 28 kanals and would pay Rs9 million annually to the Punjab government.