A section of pool car owners have appealed to the state government to give them an “all-Bengal contract carriage permit” so they can ferry passengers to different destinations when schools are shut.
The permit will help them remain viable in the transport business at a time when operational costs have escalated and many vehicle owners are yet to recover from the pandemic-induced blow, operators said.
There are around 2,500 school bus operators in and around Calcutta who ferry students to schools who have outsourced the service to contractors or agencies. A fraction of schools still run their own buses.
Almost all pool car operators did not have work for over two years when schools were closed because of Covid. Even after schools reopened, several pool cars have stayed off the road completing formalities like taking mandatory fitness tests, paying fines and clearing insurance dues.
“A 13-seater commercial vehicle costs around Rs 17 lakh. An owner has to pay around Rs 30,000 in EMI after a downpayment amount. This is other than the operations costs. Given the state of the pool car business, no new vehicle owner will be able to survive without an additional business,” said Sudip Dutta, secretary of the Pool Car Owners Welfare Association.
“The state government is insisting pool car operators use new and sturdy vehicles for the safety of the children. But the proposal has to be viable for the owners,” he said.
Several pool car operators said an “all-Bengal contract carriage permit” will allow the owners to use the vehicles to ferry tourists to destinations in the state, including Digha, Mandarmani, Bankura, Purulia, Shantiniketan, Bakkhali and Diamond Harbour.
“Parents urge us to take their families to tourist destinations during school breaks in winter and summer. Most of them trust us because we ferry their kids. But we can’t take up the offers,” said Chiranjit Das, a pool car owner. “Even weekend trips to places like Taki or Mayapur are not possible because we don’t have the permit. The fine of Rs 10,000 is too steep to take a chance.”
The appeal for the permit comes around the time when the state government is planning to draft a “comprehensive guideline” for school bus and pool car operators to “maximise road safety” of school-going children.
The move follows a directive from the National Commission for the Protection of Child Rights, an official of the transport department said.
“There are a series of guidelines on the transportation of schoolchildren, including refresher courses for drivers and periodic feedback from students about the conduct of the driver,” said the official. “We have made it mandatory that these vehicles must also come fitted with tracker devices.”
Pool car operators said an “all-Bengal permit” with a “pool car permit” will ensure they don’t face police harassment for ferrying passengers even for a wedding party.