MBMS holds eighth AGM
The eighth Annual General Meeting of Mumbai Bus Malak Sanghatana delved on ways to overcome the headwinds.
Convening the eighth Annual General Meeting (AGM) in December 2018, at Mumbai, the Mumbai Bus Malak Sanghatana (MBMS) got private bus operators -- members -- to come together to delve on the challenges and ways to beat them. To stay ahead of the curve. With VE Commercial Vehicles the platinum partner, the AGM saw subjects like expansion of membership, fare hike of city school buses, installation of height barriers across the city, ban on the entry of luxury buses during peak hours in some cities, lack of dedicated parking spaces, Goods and Services Tax (GST) taken up for discussion. Marking his presence at the AGM as an esteemed guest, Dr. Kirit Somaiya, Member of Parliament, said that India is the sixth largest economy in the world. It is likely to bypass England in 2019, and by 2022, it will overtake France. Set to overtake Japan by 2027 to become the third largest economy in the world, Somaiya mentioned that private bus operators have been the part of the country’s growth story. Stressing on India overtaking China and US in the 100th year of its Independence, he drew attention to the development of transport infrastructure in the country. Urging the private sector to work closely with the government for development, Somaiya said, “Private and public passenger carriers need to grow along with goods carriers in tandem.”
Terming transporters as a strong force behind the country’s overall development, Somaiya averred that 25 lakh buses are nearing the cycle of depreciation. It is necessary to support private bus operators in such a scenario and help them to address their issues in order to increase their
efficiency. Explaining the need to increase road quality and quantity, he quoted the union minister of road transport and highways, Nitin Gadkari on the topic of India having world class roads in the next six years. Drawing attention to big-ticket infrastructure projects shaping up in a city like Mumbai, Somaiya assured the private bus operators that their demands will be addressed. He touched upon the rise in demand for the services of the private operators in the coming future and opined that with it will come a rise in responsibility levels, a rise in the ability to move more people, and to adhere to high quality levels.
Touching upon the headwinds faced by the private bus operators, Harsh kotak, Managing Director, Modern Transport, and Treasurer, BOCI, mentioned that 15 to 20 per cent fare hike in city school buses was on the account of rising third party insurance premiums, fuel prices, maintenance costs, cost of manpower and the rise in permit costs as well as taxation. He also touched the issue of bus fitness certification among others. The school bus community urged MBMS to appeal to the government to ease the burden on their fraternity. The core committee informed the members of the formation of five new regional committees. It also informed that additions were in the pipeline. A Gujarat-based bus operator requested the formation of Gujarat committee. The core committee responded in positive. It took the opportunity to formally announce the second edition of Prawaas (2019) biennial bus and car trade show. MBMS and Bus Operators Confederation of India (BOCI) along with the Federation of Tourist Taxi Operators (FOTTO) organised the first edition of the highly successful Prawaas exhibition at Mumbai in 2017. Over 3000 bus operators from more than 25 states of India and two union territories participated in the event. Mentioned a MBMS member that Prawaas for them amounted to a national platform built by the association, and a key revenue medium as well. Averred Kotak that MBMS has approached the Regional Transport Office (RTO) in an attempt to resolve the issue of stalled permits in the state. Kotak informed that MBMS has approached higher authorities in a bid to have the fitness tracks reopened. Four RTOs in Mumbai had to cease fitness test and certification process after the Bombay High Court made it mandatory for each RTO in the state to have a 250 m test track. To compensate for the inability of the four RTOs in Mumbai, bus operators have had to go to RTOs in far flung regions like Kalyan, Dombivali and Navi Mumbai to conduct fitness tests and receive certification. As CVs, buses are subjected to fitness test every two years. Lauding the membership expansion drives conducted by MBMS, a member, on the sidelines of the AGM expressed that despite telling members to take advantage of fitness drives organised for bulk passing, they did not as much. The representatives of the KalyanDombivali region went up on stage to explain how they had made attempts to proactively expand the member base of the organisation. They suggested that the core committee share best practices with them to help them enrol more members and build an efficient organisation. The representatives of the Thane region were appreciated for enrolling the most amount of new members. Expressed a representative that it was becoming difficult to get fitness test done if the operator request came in as late as two days prior to expiry in the region. Pointed out a member that more and more members should take advantage of the online training session (on