Pvt bus owners ‘drive in’ to protest against RTA
Bus owners drove nearly 100 buses to the Road Transport Authority (RTA) office at Khairatabad causing traffic chaos. Police arrested the owners but it took them and RTA personnel hours to clear the buses.
The owners were seeking exemption of quarterly Advance Motor Vehicle Tax (MVT) for the lockdown period, to which the government did not respond.
The protesters belonged to the Telangana State Tours and Travels Association and TS Bus Operators Association among others. They wanted to surrender their vehicle papers at the RTA. The protesters claimed that all temporary permits were stopped from March 15 to ensure distancing.
“When no business was allowed, why is tax exemption not given,” they asked. They said that owners have to provide a certificate that a vehicle is not in use to obtain under tax exemption. They could not do so due to the lockdown.
Tadusetty Srinivasulu, member of the TS Tours and Travels Association, said, “We are badly affected. How can government be so harsh? Punjab, Rajasthan, Gujarat, Odisha, Kerala and Karnataka have given tax exemptions.”
He said the quarterly MVT for vehicles having more than seven seats is
`4,500, while for 12seaters it is `7,900 and
`1,210 per seat for vehicles having more than 22 seats. For a 42-seater bus, it is over `50,000.
“Apart from this, we have to pay EMIs, salaries to staff, insurance premium and maintenance of vehicle,” Srinivasulu said.
Syed Nizamuddin, president, TS Cabs and Bus Operators Association, said “we gave a representation to the Chief Secretary on Saturday but he said nothing. We had approached him on March 28 and June 4, also but to no avail.”