Out of power, Badals’ bus business has added power

Chandigarh, March 5

In power, or out of power, the Badals’ transport business — often accused of indulging in high-handed and unfair trade practices at the cost of competition, mainly public transport — seems to be on a steady ascendancy.
“Cartelisation” by the Badal-owned bus companies was a charge often levelled by the Congress during the SAD-BJP rule and also became an election issue, much highlighted by AAP. Now, despite the Akali Dal’s first family being out of power for almost a year, their fleet of buses is increasing, it is learnt.
According to sources, they have taken over control of all bus permits of one company at least, while talks are said to be in the final stages to buy permits of three other transporters. In total, the companies owned by the Badals are in the process of adding about 40 buses to their fleet of more than a thousand buses.
Though the managers of the companies owned by the Badals remain tightlipped, the owner of DMS bus transport company, Amarjit Samra, a former Congress minister from Jalandhar, has confirmed the deal. He told The Tribune that his family was selling all the 14 bus permits of DMS to the Badals.
Samra said the business was no longer viable for small transporters. However, he refuted that any deal was on to sell buses of another company, Prince Bus Service, where his family is a partner with another transporter.
Similarly, owners of the Mansa-based Punjab Bus Service and Laddi Transport and Jalandhar-based Rajdeep Transport also denied talk of any ongoing deals. Though some operators and managers claimed reporting to the “new owners”, Teja Singh of Punjab Bus Service dismissed reports of the sale of his fleet of buses as rumours.
The Transport Gazette weekly, the nodal publication for all transport-related notifications, carried a report on these deals in last week’s issue. Sources said the deals would be formally confirmed only once the full payment was made. Under rules, the change of ownership of bus route permits is to be notified in a newspaper. All such notifications appear in the Transport Gazette.
The likely deals have ruffled feathers of small transporters. JS Grewal, president of the Mini Bus Operators Union, has sought a CBI inquiry into the mushrooming of bus transport business of select companies. “It is shocking that while most of the transporters are suffering losses, still others are buying buses,” he said.
He blamed the Congress government’s “dilly-dallying approach” on introducing the news transport policy. “The Congress government promised a level-playing field for all transporters but no difference is visible on the ground. They have failed to introduce the new transport policy due to which some transporters continue to reap profits.”
A number of other transporters and union representatives, not wishing to be identified, said the bus time table favoured transport companies owned by the Badals as their buses were given up to 10 minutes’ halt at bus stands.
“This helps in getting more passengers while other transporters don’t get more than two minutes,” they said.