With barely days left before the Indian Premier League’s latest edition unfolds, a major issue has cropped up – that of ferrying the players to the match venues. Upset private bus operators have written to the transport department and Transport Minister Anil Parab about 30 buses being sourced from Delhi for players representing different franchisee teams.
They claim that Mumbai’s private bus operators have thus been denied an opportunity to participate in this IPL, causing them loss of business. The letter, written by the Federation of Tourist Taxi Operators, a copy of which is with The Free Press Journal, states, “With the new season of IPL 2022 happening in Maharashtra there is an opportunity for bus and car owners to get some business. We request you to please intervene and stop the other state registered buses and cars doing point-to-point business in Mumbai, Navi Mumbai and Pune”.
Dwelling on the issue, Malik Patel, secretary of the Federation of Tourist Taxi Operators, told the FPJ: “Tourist buses and cars plying in Maharashtra on national permits have to pay taxes, which vehicles registered in other states don’t have to. So, while we had given a quotation of Rs 18,000 per bus for 24 hours; the franchisee teams apparently got it for Rs 12,000 or so per bus for the same period. Now, at least 30 buses from Delhi, Uttar Pradesh and Haryana are here, to ply cricketers from different IPL teams. This is certainly a big loss to the transporters and operators here.”
Bus operators claim they have faced tremendous losses in the Covid pandemic, with business coming to a standstill. It is only recently that the wheels have begun turning for them as there are weddings, conferences and other events happening. “Vehicles registered in Delhi do not have to pay taxes, just the weekly tax while entering the Maharashtra border and plying within the cities,” sources said.
As the vehicles are registered under All India Tourist Permits, they are meant for use in interstate travel and are allowed to pick up passengers from their respective states and drop them off to other states. They cannot conduct point-to-point business in a state other than in their registered state. But the scenario here is different, according to bus operators, with buses and cars registered in Delhi and Uttar Pradesh making local trips in Mumbai, Pune and Navi Mumbai.
Meanwhile, earlier last week, the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) smashed the windows of at least one of the luxury buses parked outside a five-star hotel, which was meant to ferry IPL players to matches. Around half-a-dozen activists of the MNS-Vahatuk Sena (transport wing) pasted posters of their demands on the front of the bus, raised slogans and started smashing the windows.
Sanjay Naik, president, MNS Vahatuk Sangh, said: “They protested as buses from outside the state were hired for the purpose, depriving locals of employment opportunities. This IPL is a business, and not a tourist activity, so this is wrong”.
However, there was no response from the IPL franchisees on the matter.
