March 29, 2008 :Shri Rajender Singh, Director Transport said here today that it had been noticed by the transport authorities that some private operators of stage carriage buses were charging bus fare less than the recently notified prescribed fare by resorting to illegal measures like overloading so as to reduce their
operational cost.He said that this was in violation of Motor Vehicle Act and Rules and had been viewed seriously by the Government as overloading could lead to fatal accidents. He said that this was also causing an unhealthy competition between HRTC and private operators and added that the private operators had being cautioned not to undercharge the prescribed fare as it was also leading to evasion of tax as no tickets were being issued to such passengers. Any deviation from this would be dealt with seriously under the Motor Vehicle Act, he added.
He said that the Transport Department was launching a special drive so that the operators did not resort to such tactics thereby causing pecuniary loss to the Government. He directed the private bus operators to adhere to the fare rates fixed by the Government otherwise their route permits shall become liable for cancellation, besides other prescribed action under the Rules, he added.