This rule has been in place since a Calcutta High Court verdict in 2009.
By March 2025, the situation will become more acute as over half of the city’s private buses will be off the roads. Meanwhile, the number of new bus registrations has been on a steady decline since the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020: according to transport department statistics, it went from 871 registrations (in 2014-15) to 46 in 2023.
Fearing a “huge scarcity” next year, bus owners recently filed a petition at the Calcutta High Court appealing for the extension of the services of buses by two years. Bus owners also claimed that for the last seven years, fares were not increased by the government, while the prices of fuel, spare parts, insurance, and road taxes rose. They cite this as a reason why the “business of commercial buses” is no longer “lucrative”.
“During the COVID period, our buses were sitting idle almost for two years… so we basically operated them for 13 years. Earlier, we wrote to the state government to increase the buses’ services by two years. But they did not take any steps,” said Tapan Banerjee, General Secretary of the Joint Council of Bus Syndicates.
“If we get permission, commuters will be relieved, and the government will have time to solve this problem,” he added.
Transport Minister Snehashish Chakraborty, speaking to mediapersons, said, “We will also approach the Supreme Court to solve this problem.
“It is difficult to earn profit by riding a bus in Kolkata. If a person will not be able to make a profit why should he or she be interested?” said a senior bus owner of Kolkata. Many are waiting for their buses to complete fifteen years of service, after which they plan to send them to scraps and quit the business.
Banerjee said, “In 2009, after the Supreme Court order, all buses (that were) more than fifteen years old were replaced with new buses. A major number of buses were replaced then. More than four thousand of these buses will complete 15 years in 2024… We are sure that if bus fares are not increased, these buses will not be replaced.”