How Badals are killing Punjab Roadways to promote their transport business ?

CHANDIGARH: The ruling Badal family has been adopting unethical methods to kill the public transport Punjab Roadways and promote their own transport business. While Badals are increasing fleet of their own transport companies, they are not adding buses in Punjab roadways forcing it to surrender route permits.
The news reports appearing in media have revealed that Punjab Roadways was paying Rs.20 crores vehicle tax on non-existing buses. The Roadways has 2407 route permits but it has only 1672 buses. Punjab Roadways has already surrendered some route permits due to shortage of buses but even now paying Rs.20 crores tax per annum for buses which do not exist. Punjab Government has told the High Court last week that Punjab has 2508 government buses and 3543 private buses. The transport policy says the ratio of government and private buses shall be 60:40 but private companies are running 70 percent routes.
Punjab Government was using delaying tactics in adding new buses to Punjab Roadways and PEPSU road transport. Punjab Government had mooted a proposal to add 305 buses against the shortage of 715 buses about a year ago to run all the routes. The shortage of buses not only adding to revenue loss to Punjab Roadways it is also forced to pay Rs.20 crore tax for non- existing buses. Sources said that this was one of the major reason that Punjab Roadways was running into losses.
The order of fabricating the bus bodiesd has been assigned to Haryana Roadway Engineering Corporation which has delayed the supply of buses by about two months. No date is fixed for the delivery of first lot of buses, sources said. The 305 buses
when arrived would be distributed among 16 depots of Punjab Roadways.
The tansport companies owned by Deputy Chief Minister Sukhbir Singh Badal and family memebrs has a total fleet of over 250 buses which had grown from four buses owned by Dabwali Trasnport before Badal’s came to power. The Orbit bus company is operating 62 luxury buses.
Earlier, Badal government had slashed the vehicle tax on AC and luxury buses to get maximum benefit and general buses were given marginal benefit on tax. Tax on stage carriage ordinary buses registered in Punjab will now be Rs 2.25 per km per vehicle per day whereas earlier it was Rs 2.60. On AC buses it has been brought down from Rs 7.5 per km per day per vehicle to just Re 1. Badals told public that tax on AC buses has been reduced to make travel in AC buses affordable and comfortable for them.