Indore: Annoyed with the action of the Regional Transport Office against buses for not depositing due taxes, the bus operators’ association has appealed to the government to waive taxes for the period of lockdown during the second wave of Covid-19.

State president of the Prime Route Bus Owners’ Association Govind Sharma said that the government should take immediate action to waive the taxes, or else the bus operators would not have any option but to shut business.

“The government had imposed a lockdown termed ‘Corona Curfew’ and shut the institutions, shops, buses and everything else due to the second wave of Covid-19. Relaxations were given to some people after two months but bus operations were halted from April till July. The government had waived the taxes for the duration of the first lockdown, that is, for 165 days and we demand the same relief again,” Sharma said. He added that RTO officials in Indore were seizing buses and pressuring them to pay the taxes even for the period when bus operations were not allowed.

“The price of diesel has also been increasing continuously but not fares. About 40 per cent of the buses are still not running due to a lack of passengers. Business has been badly hit due to Covid and curbs imposed by the administration to control it. Many bus operators are under depression and harbouring suicidal thoughts,” Sharma said, appealing to the government to take immediate action to provide relief, or else the buses would go off the roads.

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