KATHMANDU, Dec 16: The government has once again extended the deadline to register transport operators as companies, giving them time until mid-March next year.
The three-month extension allows them to continue operating as committees, which means the public transport operators will run as syndicates until then.
The government has also promised an amendment in the Companies Act to insert a special provision for the existing bus operator committees to register as companies even if a committee is run by more than 101 individuals.
A joint meeting of three ministers -- Minister for Physical Infrastructure and Transport Raghuvir Mahaseth, Minister for Industry, Commerce and Supplies Matrika Prasad Yadav, and Minister for Home Affairs Ram Bahadur Thapa -- decided to allow them to run as bus operator committees for more three months on Thursday, only two days before the Dec 16 deadline.
Director General at the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) Labanya Dhakal said that the last extension was provided as per genuine concern of the transport entrepreneurs.
“They demanded to operate as companies run by more than 101 individual bus owners. We agreed after rigorous discussions with them,” added Dhakal.
Transportation committees register as companies in Kavre
The committees that had large number of bus owners were more powerful than the government regulators in the past. They imposed informal ban on the entry of new public transport operators on any route, and the government was unable to stop them.
Extending time and permitting them to run in the same size as they are today, even if they register in the company model, is likely to keep the current syndicates alive. The government had claimed ending transport syndicates in May after opening up route permits for new individuals or groups who register as companies.
“Both the changes in the law were unnecessary. This raises questions as to why should they be allowed to run a company with so many members. No company requires that many number,” said Tulasi Prasad Sitaula, retired government secretary at the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport.
Sitaula further said that the government could have taken a tough stance on them. “The government should have asked them to register their services as companies and also register at the Department of Transport Management,” he added.
Sitaula suspected some foul play behind the curtain for not taking serious action against those syndicate operators.
“The eleventh hour extension is not justified. They did not discuss the matter well ahead of the deadline,” said Situala.
The government had started an anti-syndicate drive by endorsing new laws, making it mandatory for the transport operators to operate as companies and end their committees, which were operating across the country for more than two and a half decades.
The company model was introduced to bring the transport operators into tax net, formalize the transport service sector, stop them from manipulating the services, and make public transport a properly organized system.
The government’s move early this year was resisted by the bus operators, who defied the government’s announcement to convert them into companies. They called strikes and the public transport services came to a grinding halt.
In early May, Home Minister Ram Bahadur Thapa had led a move to arrest the operators for obstructing essential public service, and ordered seizing bank accounts of the transport committees.
The committees surrendered to the government and promised to convert themselves into companies when their bank accounts were frozen. They were given a deadline of doing so until mid-July, but the government later extended it to December 16.
Minister Mahaseth has been blamed for colluding with the transport entrepreneurs after the government’s May 6 declaration that syndicates in the transport sector had officially ended.
Mahaseth transferred erstwhile director general of DOTM Rup Narayan Bhattarai, who was leading the drive against the syndicate operators, and kept the post of director general vacant for long.
Mahaseth has been blamed for not taking any initiative toward improving the situation, leaving the public feeling no change in the transport system.
