CHAPTER-2

STATE TRANSPORT UNDERTAKINGS IN

INDIA

2.1 Indian transport

2.2 State Transport Corporations in India
2.3 Nationalization of passenger road transport
2.4 State Transport Undertakings in India
2.5 Public sector passenger transport
2.6 Introduction to STUs
2.7 Conclusion
References
2.1. INDIAN TRANSPORT:-

Transport constitutes an important aspect of infrastructure for economic

growth. The significance of the transport sector lies not only in the specific

services it renders, but even more, in unifying and integrating influence it exerts

upon the economy enhancing productivity, widening the market and introducing

new stimuli to economic activity. Railways, Road ways, Airways, Coastal

Shipping and Inland Waterway are the five mechanized transport systems in India.

Out of the five transport systems, Railway and Roadways carry more than

90 percent of the Inland passenger and freight traffic. Among these two modes of

transport, the Road transport has been playing a vital role both is freight and

passenger traffic.

Within the sphere of road transport, passenger road transport assumes

greater importance in a developing country like India for two reasons i.e. the

special characteristic features of this mode of transport and the complexity of

demographic, geographic and economic factors. Transportation by bus has the

flexibility, easy penetration in inaccessible areas and suitability for short and

medium distances. From the view point of economy, Bus transport can carry

greater passengers with far lesser capital investment then railways. The most

significant development in the transport sector of the Indian economy is the

marked shift in the relative shares of rail and road transport in carrying the total

traffic. The share of road transport in carrying the passenger, traffic has been

increasing at a very fast rate as compared to that of the railways.

35
 The role of the mechanical transport in India started in the beginning of the

nineteenth century and the first motor vehicle was imported to India in 1898. In the

early years it remained a novel and luxury means for the rich. With steady increase

in the number of vehicles followed the enactment of several provincial acts to

control and regulate their movement to safeguard the lives of the pedestrians and

their regulations. The (Indian) Motor vehicles Act 1914 was the first all India

enactment dealing with control over the operation of vehicles.

2.2. STATE TRANSPORT CORPORATIONS IN INDIA:-

During the post- independence period there was a revolution of rising

expectations for better quality of life. The political leadership desired that

centuries of poverty should be quickly eradicated and the living standard of the

citizens should be raised to reasonable levels. The policy makers realized that the

road transport had to play a vital role in the process of development and planning

for rapid industrialization. They were also convinced that road transport would

enable industrial enterprises to utilize the untapped sources of labor and will

contribute to the mobilization of all available resources though out the country.

The state was willing to play on active role to achieve their national goals and the

concept of public sector had appealed very much as a solution to the problems of

the country. The public sector was then seen as an engine of growth and both the

Central and the State government used public sector as a policy instrument to

achieve better standards of living for the citizens. Thus, State transport

undertakings (STUs) came into scene as State level public enterprises and the

passengers transport sector become a State led business activity.

36
 The Socio-economic and political factors which existed during the post­

independence era compelled India to take possible steps towards public transport

sector. The planning commission had also given direction to State Governments to

form new State transport corporations or convert the departmental transport

undertaking into transport corporations. The importance of bus transport in the

fulfillment of planned objectives was emphasized among the State Governments

through capital participation by the Union Government Out of over 35,000 buses

in the country in 1950-51, the State sector had a share of only 7000 buses which

accounted for 20%.

Amendment of RTC Act 1950:-

The Motor vehicles Act 1950 was amended in 1956 to incorporate special

provisions for State transport undertakings which were meant to be the agents of

the Government for progressive preparation and publication of nationalization

schemes by the State Governments for approving such schemes which might or

might not involve displacement of private bus operations.

Permits for operations of Bus Services:-

The issue of permits to operate buses was regulated by chapter-IV of the

motor vehicles Act. The rules framed by the State Governments elaborate

procedures for the grant of permits which are briefly given below :-

37
1. The concerned Regional Transport Authority (RTA) should make an

assessment on the need for introduction of a new or an additional service on

the route.

2. RTA should decide the course of the route.

3. A public notification should be made inviting applications for operation of

bus service.

4. The evaluation of the applications received for permits should be done by a

marking system.

5. RTA should fix up a date for open hearing and hearing the applicants in

person and

6. c>The grant of permits should be subject to the various conditions contained

in the motor vehicles act.

The process of granting permits was a time consuming and cumbersome

exercise which encouraged many unsuccessful applicants for prolonged legal

battles. The new procedure also resulted in better fight between the STC’s and the

private bus applicants. These were allegations of favoritism, political interference

and nepotism in the grant of permit.

In chapter IV A of the amended motor vehicles act 1950, special provisions

were made for preparation and publications of nationalization schemes for the

approval of the government. This provision was a very powerful tool, entrusted

with the State Governments and the STC’s to decide who should operate on a route

38
or routes ,area or areas, and further who could be allowed to continue or to operate

and who would be eliminated in the process of Nationalization scheme. With the

approval of the Board, STC’s were authorized to prepare and publish schemes on

their own and once a scheme is published, it was called a notified scheme where

no new private operator could enter. However, the private operator, operating on a

route at the time of its notification could continue unhindered till the government

decided on the notification. The Government could either oppose the notification

with or without modifications after hearing from all concerned or could reject the

scheme.

The major draw backs noticed in this procedure were: -

1. The procedure contained no guideline for the Board on choosing a route or

routes, area or areas, for nationalization schemes.

2. STCs were empowered to fonnulate and publish any number of schemes.

3. STCs were authorized to decide as to which operator should be eliminated

and who should be allowed to continue in the event of the approval of the

scheme by the state Government.

4. No uniform procedure was laid down for elimination of the existing

operators.

5. The most serious drawback in the scheme was that the state governments

were not duty-bound to dispose of the notified schemes of the STCs within

39
 a reasonable time-frame with the result that in some cases the courts had to

intervene and criticize such prolonged suspension of service.

6. Inordinate delay in the disposal of notified scheme by state governments

encouraged the STC’s to notify schemes according to their will and the

political power also used this as a weapon to threaten private operators.

The constitutional validity of nationalization of passenger road transport

has been well established in chapter-VI A of the M.V. Act 1956, and was amended

in 1969 for promoting State monopoly in passenger road transport, to give more

powers to the State Governments, to nationalize road transport services

expeditiously which was challenged in various courts and supreme court as to its

validity and justification under the Indian constitution. This forced the union

government to add chapter IV- A to the IX schedule of the constitution in 1977.

The constitutional validity of the schemes under this chapter could not be

challenged and the States were thus free to nationalize the road transport services

without any difficulties.

2.3. NATIONALIZATION OF PASSENGER ROAD TRANSPGRT:-

The formation of nationalization State transport undertakings (STUs) has

been a historic necessity. STUs came to be established to bring order into a

scenario prevailing then by a large number of unorganized operators with the

entire transport operators being broken into bits and pieces of route, permits and

vehicles. The establishment of nationalized STUs followed the failure of the

40
attempts made to bring on the formation of viable units through amalgamation and

incorporation of a large number of Very small operators.

Formation of the Association of State Road Transport Undertakings

(ASRTU):-

By mid 1950s, a large number of STU’s came into existence. It was then

decided by the Ministry of shipping and transport to convene an Annual

conference of the chief executives of the STU’s to discuss their common problems.

At that point of time, one of the major problems facing the STU’s concerned the

availability of spare parts for vehicles at reasonable prices and inadequate

quantities. In one of the Annual conferences it was resolved that an effective way

of meeting the problems of procurement of spare parts was to resort collective

action. Hence, it was resolved to set up a standing committee (Supplies and

Controls) of STUs which was formed in 1962 representing the chief executives of

all STU’s. The pooling together of resources of all STU’s in the matter of

obtaining spare parts at reasonable prices proved to be of immense advantage. The

chief executive of the STU’s while participating in the meeting of the standing

committee (Supplies and controlling) felt that this collective action would

advantageously be extended to other areas as well and hence a recommendation

was made that a standing organizations of STU’s for dealing with various

problems faced by them and for helping the STU’s to improve their performance

may be set up. This was then pursed with the ministry of shipping & transport with

the active support and guidance of the ministry, the Association of State Road

Transport undertakings (ASRTU) came into formal existence on 13 August,

41
1965. ASRTU was established as a cooperative society under the Societies

Registration Act, 1960 with the then special secretary, Ministry of shipping and

transport as the first president of the ASRTU.

The objectives of the ASRTU are:-

1. Undertaking and promoting research studies in transport economics and

engineering, etc, affecting the transport industry,

2. Securing and providing a technical consultancy serve for the benefit of

STU’s,

3. Rendering common service to the members of the association and assisting

them in such matters as standardization of equipment, purchase of materials

at reasonable prices, promotion of efficiency of road transport services and

reduction in the operational costs,

4. Providing facilities for instruction, training and research for the persons

employed in STU’s,

5. Encouraging the adoption of modem tools of scientific management like

work study, budgetary control etc, and

6. Publishing bulletins, notices, journals etc for disseminations of useful

information and to arrange seminars, inter-unit visits, etc.

The affairs of the ASRTU are managed by its executive committee, the

chairman of which is the President of the Association. Under the Articles of

42
Associations, Secretary to the Government of India in charge of Road Transport

(Presently the ministry of surface transport) is the ex-office President of the

association. In addition to the President, the executive committee comprises a vice-

President who is elected at the annual general body meeting from among the chief

executives Of member STU’s, Chief Executives of 12 member organizations

nominated by the Annual General Body meeting, joint secretary (transport) of the

ministry of surface transport, the executive director, ASRTU and the director,

CIRT, Pune.

Activities of the ASRTU are carried out through various standing

committees namely:-

1. Standing Committee (Supplies & Control)

2. Standing Committee (Technical & Stores)

3. Standing Committee (Financial Management)

4. Standing Committee (Traffic)

5. Standing Committee (Personnel Welfare and sports)

6. Standing Committee (Computerization & MIS)

ASRTU renders significant services to its members through there standing

Committees. The Central Institute of Road transport (CIRT) which was established

in 1967 at Pune on the joint initiative of the ministry of shipping and transport,

Government of India and the ASRTU, is the training and research wing of the

43
ASRTU which conducts management training programmes for the executives of

STU. The modem automobile component testing laboratories, set up at CIRT are

the best and unique in the country where the samples of spare parts used in heavy

vehicles are tested for quality. The tests so carried out enable the standing

committee (Supplies and controls) of the ASRTU to issue rate contracts at

competitive prices on firms which supply spare parts. The ASRTU finalizes rate

contracts with manufactures for supply of spare parts and accessories according to

a predetermined procedure. STUs are in a position to procure items from such a

rate contract holder at the contracted price as per standard terms and conditions.

Moreover such an arrangement enables STU’s to get rid of the various time-

consuming processes involved in inviting competitive bids and procurement. The

rate contract holders are manufacturers of spare parts to the prescribed

r
specifications of ASRTU.

Classification of STU’s:-

The STU’s can be classified into five categories, based on the

organizational and financial set-up. They are:-

1. Corporation Set-up.

2. Governmental Departmental, Set-up.

3. Company Set-up.

4. Government Departments.

5. Municipal undertakings.

44
L Corporation Set-up

1. Andhra Pradesh SRTC

2. Assam STC

3. Bihar SRTC

4. Calcutta STC

5. Delhi STC

6. Gujarat SRTC

7. Himachal RTC

8. Jammu & Kashmir SRTC

9. Karnataka SRTC

10. Kerala SRTC

11. Madhya Pradesh SRTC

12. Maharashtra SRTC

13. Manipur STRC

14. Meghalaya TC

15. North Bengal STC.

16. North West Karnataka RTC.

17. Orissa SRTC

18. PepsuRTC

19. Rajasthan SRTC

20. South Bengal STC

21. Tripura RTC

22. Uttar Pradesh SRTC

45
2. Government Department set-up:-

There are eight Government departments which are the members of

association of State Road transport undertakings. They are:-

1. Andaman & Nicobar ST

2. Arunachal Pradesh ST

3. Chandigarh TU

4. ST Haryana

5. Mizoram ST

6. ST Punjab

7. Nagaland ST

8. Sikkim NT

3. Company Set-up:-

There are 25 companies associated in the State road transport undertakings.

They are:-

1. Metropolitan TCL (CNI-I)

2. Metropolitan TCL (CNI-II)

3. State Express TCL (TN-I)

4. State Express TCL (TN-I)

5. Tamil Nadu State TCL (CBE-I)

6. Tamil Nadu State TCL (CBE-II)

7. Tamil Nadu State TCL (CBE-III)

8. Tamil Nadu State TCL (KUM-I)

46
 9. Tamil Nadu State TCL (KUM-II)

10. Tamil Nadu State TCL (KUM-III)

11. Tamil Nadu State TCL (KUM-IV)

12. Tamil Nadu State TCL (MDU-I)

13. Tamil Nadu State TCL (MDU-II)

14. Tamil Nadu State TCL (MDU-III)

15. Tamil Nadu State TCL (MDU-IV)

16. Tamil Nadu State TCL (MDU-V)

17. Tamil Nadu State TCL (SLM-I)

18. Tamil Nadu State TCL (SLM-II)

19. Tamil Nadu State TCL (VPM-I)

20. Tamil Nadu State TCL (VPM-II)

21. Tamil Nadu State TCL (VPM-III)

22. Kadomba TCL

23. Calcutta Transport Co. Ltd.

24. Pondicherry TDCL

25. West Bengal Surface TCL

4. Government Departments

Government has also set up some organizations in transport system. They

are:-

1. Delhi Tourism DC

2. Himachal Pradesh TDCI

3. The National TC, Mauritius.

47
5. Municipal Undertakings:-

There are 9 municipal undertakings in transport sector as follows:-

1. Ahmadabad MTS

2. Bangalore Metropolitan TCL

3. Best undertaking

4. Kolhapur MTU

5. Navi Mumbai MT

6. Pimpi Chinchowda MT

7. Pune MT

8. SolapurMTU

9. Thane MTU.

2.4. STATE TRANSPORT UNDERTAKING IN INDIA:-

The recommendations made by the various committees appointed by the

Government, the various amendments made in the Road Transport Corporations

ACT 1956 and the encouragement given by the Planning commission resulted in

the formation of various STUs in the country under four forms

(1) Departmental undertaking directly under the State Government,

(2) Municipal undertakings owned and controlled by the municipal

corporations,

(3) Companies or corporations fonned under the Indian companies Act 1956

and

48
(4) Road Transport corporations formed under the Road Transport corporations

Act 1950.

Chapter IV-A of motor vehicles 1956 which incorporated special provision

relating to State Transport undertaking defines a STU as follows:

“State Transport Undertaking means any undertaking providing road transport

service where such undertaking is carried on by

(i) The Central Government or a State Government.

(ii) Any Road Transport Corporations established under section 3 of the road

Transport Corporations Act 1950.

(iii) Any municipality or any corporations or company owned or controlled by

the Central government or one or more State Government.

Under the Road Transport Corporations Act 1950 so far eight Departmental

undertakings have been setup by various State governments, another eleven are

municipal undertakings, and 26 are registered under the company Act while 22 are

Road Transport Corporations. The principal objective defined in the RTC Act

makes it obligatory on the part of these transport undertakings to provide an

efficient, adequate, and economical and properly co-ordinate system of road

transport seivices in area within their jurisdiction.

With the enactment of the RTC Act 1950 the Government of India

recognized the need for providing passenger bus services in public sector then in

private sector and committed to a policy of nationalization of passenger road

49
transport services in the state. Though there are 67 transports undertaking under

public sector throughout the country, the progress of nationalization has been

uneven in various states.

2.5. PUBLIC SECTOR PASSENGER TRANSPORT

With the sphere of passenger Road transport, Public passenger transport

provided by State road transport undertakings (SRTUs) plays a vital role. State

participation in passenger Road transport in India connected in 1950 with the

enactment of Road Transport Corporations (RTC) act to provide efficient,

economic and adequate passenger services.

By legislating this act, the Government of India recognized that provision of

passenger bus services was more desirable in the public sector than in the private

sector and committed itself to a policy of nationalization of the road passenger

transport services. The development of road passenger transportation got a further

boost as a result of inclusion of road transport activity in the list of industries to be

progressively nationalized under Industrial Policy Resolution Act. 1956. This

RTCs Act. enabled the conversion of Government owned transport services

operated by the Private sector. In 1956 the planning commission had given

directions to State Govermnents to form new State Road Transport Corporations

(SRTCs) or convert the Departmental Transport undertakings into transport

Corporations. In addition to these, the reorganization of states on Linguistic basis

also led to the formation of SRTCs under the Public Sector.

50
2.6. INTRODUCTION TO STATE TRANSPORT UNDERTAKINGS:-

The different State Road Transport Undertakings are explained as below:

ORISSA STATE ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION (OSRTC)-Orissa

State Road Transport Corporation is a joint venture undertaking of the

Government of India and the State Government of Orissa, set up with the objective

of providing efficient and economic road transportation facilitates to passengers in

the state. The corporation was constituted in 1974 under the Road Transport

Corporations Act of 1950. OSRTC carries out its function from 32 units spread

across various cities in the State. It operates daily services to major cities and

towns and to the remotest corners of Orissa. The corporation also operates regular

schedules to the neighboring States of Andhra Pradesh, Jharkhand, West Bengal

and Chhattisgarh.

CALCUTTA STATE ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION (CSTC)-The

Calcutta State Transport Corporation (CSTC) has been registering mounting losses

for more than four decades now. Established in 1960, the CSTC had recorded a

loss of Rs 62.59 lakh in the first year itself. The downslide continues despite the

State government’s efforts to infuse life into it with subsidies. An internal audit of

the CSTC has revealed that it had accumulated a net loss of Rs 139.98 crore in

2005-06. The revenue generated could hardly recover even a fraction of the

employees’ cost during 2003-04 to 2005-06. In 2005-06, the Government poured

in subsidies worth Rs 106.51 crore in CSTC, nearly 56 per cent of the total

expenditure. But it could not make up for the widening expenditure-revenue gap,

51
the report stated. In the previous year too, the State Government had infused Rs

75.98 crore subsidy into the ailing CSTC. The audit highlights how CSTC has

become a burden on the public exchequer and runs up huge costs of operation.

First, the CSTC has to cough up Rs 34.55 for every effective kilometer run of the

bus. The utilization of its fleet has declined over the years. Only 659 vehicles out

of the 1,144 owned by the CSTC hit the road in 2005-06. The scenario was slightly

better in the previous year in which 707 vehicles (out of 1114) had hit the road. Of

the total expenses, staff cost accounts for about 61.35 per cent of the total

operation cost. Fuel cost comes to about 26.58 per cent. Moreover, details of

obsolete and unusable stores lying with different depots were not furnished for the

audit.

DELHI TRANSPORT CORPORATION (DTC)-Govt. of India, Ministry of

Transport took over the local bus services in Delhi in May 1948 in the name of

Delhi Transport Service when they found that the services offered by Gwalior and

Northern India Transport Company Ltd., the then licensee, were inadequate. A

Delhi Road Transport Authority was constituted under the Road Transport

Corporation Act, 1950. This Authority became undertaking of Municipal

Corporation of Delhi by an Act of Parliament in April, 1958.On the

recommendation of a Working Group of Planning Commission which concluded

that Delhi Transport as an extension of Municipal Corporation of Delhi had not

been functioning efficiently and adequately resulting in leakage of revenue and

very high operation cost. Govt, of India took over the management of the

undertaking by passing the Delhi Road Transport Laws (Amendment) Act, in

52
1971. It took over the assets and liabilities from the erstwhile Delhi Transport

Undertaking (DTU) operated by the Municipal Corporation of Delhi till 2nd Nov,

1971. Thus the DTC was set up in 1971. In section 22 of the Road Transport

Corporation Act, 1950, following objectives were laid down for the DTC:

• To provide or secure or promote an efficient, economical, reliable and

properly coordinated system the road transport in Union Territory of Delhi

and any extended area.

• In doing so, it shall act on business principles.

• To achieve a high level operational efficiency.

• To charge fares not exceeding those prescribed by the State under Section

43(1) (i) of the Motor Vehicle Act, 1939.

• To attain financial self-sufficiency.

DTC which was functioning under the administrative control of Govt, of India was

finally taken over by Govt, of NCT, Delhi on 05.08.96.

GUJARAT STATE ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION (GSRTC)-

Gujarat State Road Transport Corporation (GSRTC) is a public transport

corporation providing bus services / Public transit within Gujarat and to the

neighboring states of Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. It also runs

buses to the Union Territories of Daman & Diu. GSRTC has total of

approximately 9000 buses covering 16 divisions within the State of Gujarat. Bus

53
service also has the "Raise your hand and take a ride" facility for so many routes.

GSRTC provides a variety of services as described below:

Mofussil Services: Connecting major cities, smaller towns and villages

within Gujarat. Intercity bus services : Connecting major cities - Ahmadabad,

Vadodara (Baroda) and Rajkot.

Interstate bus services : Connecting various cities of Gujarat to the

neighboring states of Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.

City services: Provides city bus services at Surat, Baroda, Rajkot, and

Gandhinagar & Ahmadabad within the state of Gujarat.

Parcel Services: For transporting goods.

Over and above these bus route services GSRTC also provides special bus

route services for Festivals, Industrial zones, schools and colleges, pilgrim places.

GSRTC buses are available to the public through contractual agreements special

occasions. GSRTC also offers educational trips to the students.

ANDHRA PRADESH STATE ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION

(APSRTC)-Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation had a modest

beginning when it was established in 1932 as a unit of the Nizam State Railways’

road transport division in the erstwhile Hyderabad state with 27 buses and 166

employees. It assumed its present name on January 11, 1958 when the old Nizam

State Railways was re-constituted in accordance with the Road Transport

Corporations Act of 1950. Now the corporation has a fleet strength of over 20,000

54
buses and 1.28 lakh employees, serving every nook and comer of Andhra Pradesh.

APSRTC's zonal headquarters is located at Hyderabad. APSRTC's daily services

link over 24,336 villages with major cities and towns in the state. While ‘Village

Link’ services connect villages to the nearest mandal / revenue headquarters /

towns, the ‘Graamani’ services cater to the needs of peripheral areas of towns. The

APSRTC also runs buses to major destinations in the neighboring states of Tamil

Nadu, Maharashtra, Karnataka, Chhattisgarh and Orissa.

HIMACHAL PRADESH ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION (HRTC)

- HRTC provides public transit facility to its passengers in the state of Himachal

and to the adjoining states like Punjab, Haryana and Uttaranchal. HRTC runs

approximately 1733 routes. HRTC operates four types of buses namely Ordinary

Buses, High-Tech Buses, Deluxe Buses, Luxury Coach Air Conditioned Buses.

KERALA STATE ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION (KSRTC) - It

was established in 1961. It operates around 5700 schedules. The fleet strength at

6600 vehicles .Infrastructure of KSRTC include a Corporate Office, 13 Divisional

Offices, 61 Depots, two Bus Bodybuilding Workshops, one Printing Press, 119

Bus Stands and 3 Training Institutes.

KARNATAKA STATE ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION

(KNSRTC)-Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KNSRTC) operated for

years as a unified organization providing bus transportation to riders in Bangalore

and Other parts of the state until 1997 when it was broken up into three separate

and independent units: Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC)

55
serving the Bangalore metro region, North West Karnataka State Road Transport

Corporation (NWKnSRTC) serving the Northwestern region of the state, and a

much smaller Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KnSRTC) serving the

remainder of its previous jurisdiction. A few years later in 2002 North Eastern

Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (NEKnSRTC) was carved out as yet

another distinct entity.

RAJASTHAN STATE ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION (RSRTC)-

RSRTC was established on 1st October 1964 and is the largest provider of

intercity bus transportation in Rajasthan. The Corporation has its Head Quarters in

Jaipur. The Corporation serves a diverse customer base. RSRTC is uniquely

positioned to serve this broad and growing market because:

• Offers low fares for passenger’s everyday.

• Spacious and convenient Bus Stands with all amenities for waiting and

in-transit passengers.

• Offers the only means of regularly scheduled intercity transportation to

most cities, towns and small villages across the State and neighboring

States.

• Offers reservation facilities for all deluxe and express buses.

• Provides additional seats during peak travel periods to accommodate

passengers.

56
 • As a socially conscious body offer concessions in fares and facilities to

physically challenged.

• Offers concessional fare to the sick, freedom fighters, widows and

families of soldiers who died in war.

The Corporation has 48 depots spread over the State. The Corporation buses

daily cover over 1.5 million kilometers catering to nearly 1 million passengers

through its network of over 13000 services to all-important places in Rajasthan and

adjoining States of Gujarat, Haryana, Punjab, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Himachal

Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh and Maharashtra. RSRTC is operating regular air-

conditioned and super deluxe buses between Jaipur and Delhi. To keep impeccable

safety standard RSRTC maintains a high turn over of buses. Not keeping a bus in

service on average for more than seven years. RSRTC is also socially conscious

and affords concessional rates to senior citizens, physically challenged persons and

relatives of soldiers who died in war.

RSRTC has an enormous in-house facility for maintenance and engineering.

Buses are fabricated with latest specifications. The major items of consumption

such as tyres, spare parts are purchased from the manufacturers and their

recognized original equipment manufacturer under the purchase policy. The scrap

material like condemned buses; spares and tyres are sold through open auction at

Jaipur, Ajmer and Jodhpur. The corporation's main objectives are to provide

efficient, adequate, economical, safe and well coordinated passenger transport

service and through the development of transport facility, development of this

57
virgin Desert Land for our national economy. With these objective RSRTC has

been providing services not only on notified routes but also on sub non-

nationalized routes for the convenience of the public. Inter State Services were

also being extended to the neighboring States for a coordinated transport.

MAHARASHTRA STATE ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION

(MSRTC)- Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) is a State run

bus service based in Maharashtra, India which services routes to other towns and

cities within the same and adjoining states. Apart from inter State cities MSRTC

bus service also covers destinations like Ahmadabad, Bangalore, Goa, Indore and

Surat. Early bus services in Maharashtra were started in the early 1920s largely

due to efforts of local entrepreneurs. With no regulatory laws governing public

transportation services these services run in adhoc manner. The Motor Vehicle Act

of 1939 brought in amongst many other things, regulation of fares, standard routes

and rules for governance and monitoring of public transportation providers. As a

result of the act individual operators were asked to form a union on defined routes

in a particular area. Bus schedules were set in; pick-up points, conductors, and

fixed ticket prices were mandated. Still passenger woes continued and then in 1948

Bombay State Government, started its own State sponsored road transport service

called State Transport of Bombay. The first blue and silver-topped bus took off

from Pune to Ahmednagar in 1948. In mean time, in 1950 the Central Government

under the initiative of Morarji Desai the then home minister passed the Road

Transport Corporation Act. This act delegated powers to States to form their

individual road transport corporations, the Central Government would contribute

58
up to a third of the establishment of such services. The Bombay State Road

Transport Corporation (BSRTC) was formed following this, later on whose name

was changed to Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation after the re­

organization of the States. The main terminal is located opposite Mumbai Central

Railway Station. They are popular modes of transport for locals and tourists alike.

Public service to most cities is available at 30 minute intervals, and private bus

service is also available at an additional cost, with prior booking. One of their most

lucrative routes is the Mumbai to Pune route, via the expressway, on which buses

depart on 10-15 minute intervals. MSRTC is one of the largest fleet owners in

India, operating a fleet of approximately 16,000 buses. The buses are mainly made

by two companies, TATA and Ashok Leyland. The Asiads in MSRTC mostly are

made by TATA Motors, whereas the red sets are a mix of Tata and Ashok

Leyland. Now the MSRTC has all set to come up with a new looking and all

passenger oriented fleet. They have three central workshops where the bodies of

their buses are built, approximately 2000 in numbers per year, which are located in

Pune, Aurangabad, and Nagpur. The organization has 9 Tyre Retreading Plants

and 32 Divisional Workshops. MSRTC has the best working systems. The engine

performance is the best for their vehicles. Periodic maintenance is the basic reason.

It is well known for the services it caters to the masses. The service is available in

remote areas also.

UTTAR PRADESH STATE ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATIONS

(UPSRTC)-UPSRTC provides transit service to its passengers in Uttar Pradesh and

to the neighboring States of Uttar Pradesh to Himachal Pradesh, Punjab, Haryana,

59
Rajasthan, Bihar and Madhya Pradesh. It has connecting services to Delhi and to

the places in Uttaranchal. It has over 6800 buses covering the entire state of Uttar

Pradesh and the neighbouring States. It has more than 309 bus stations. The bus

station generally has rest rooms, canteens, booking offices, toilets, drinking water,

timetable & fare chart display, seats and other facilities. Corporation allows free

travel on the buses for distinguished citizens.

JAMMU & KASHMIR STATE ROAD TRANSPORT CORPORATION

(JKSRTC) -The JKSRTC operated the first vehicle across khardung La Pass at

18,380 ft in 1962. Public transportation in Jammu & Kashmir is provided by the

Jammu & Kashmir State Road Transport Corporation. In order to facilitate the

commuters JKSRTC runs different types of services based on the need of the

passengers. The transit facility provided by JKSRTC is very affordable and

comfortable. JKSRTC runs following services to cater the needs of the public.

JKSRTC runs interstate buses to the adjacent states of Punjab, Himachal Pradesh,

Haryana, Rajasthan and Delhi and also provides airport transfer services.

PEPSU State Road Transport Corporation (PSRTC)-The PEPSU Road

Transport Corporation was constituted on 16.10.1956 under the provisions of the

Road Transport Corporations, Act 1950 to provide transport facilities to the people

of Erstwhile State of Pepsu and other neighbouring States in an efficient, adequate,

economic and properly coordinated operation system of Road Transport Services.

The general duties of the Corporation which have been defined under section 18 of

Road Transport Corporations Act, 1950 are as under: -

60
 “It shall be the general duty of a Corporation so to exercise its power as

progressively to provide or secure or promote the provisions of, and efficient,

adequate, economical and properly co-ordinate system of Road Transport Service

in the State or part of the State for which it is established and in any extended area

: Provided that nothing in this Section shall be construed as imposing on a

Corporation, either directly or indirectly, any form of duty or liability enforceable

by proceedings before any Court or Tribunal to which it would not otherwise be

subject(s).”

2.7. CONCLUSION

The public sector passenger transport sector in this country is facing a

serious crisis today. Unless effective and timely measures are taken, the

consequences will be disastrous. STUs are losing their prime position in the

passenger transport sector and making way for haphazard growth of various modes

of transport. All types of vehicles with uncontrolled growth including private

buses, jeeps, tempos, lorries and three wheelers invading the roads take away the

sizeable chunk of passengers of STUs. Over 30,000 buses and 1,30,000 light

commercial vehicles produced by the auto manufactures in India every year are a

threat to the existence of STU’s. The State participation in the road passenger

transport sector was to provide an efficient number of people in addition to prevent

exploitation of the transport workers. Perhaps it was precisely to avoid such an

incoming scenario immediately after independence. The nationalization of road

passenger transportation was taken up after the enactment of the Road transport

Corporations Act in 1950. The aim of the founding was to meet the social

61
obligation by providing an affordable, safe and reliable transportation in urban and

rural areas. The failure of STUs in India is not a sudden development but the one

that has been emerging over the last decade. The end of 1980s witnessed the

winds of liberalization worldwide. Competitions and market economics become

the mantra for efficient performance. Prior to the enactment of Motor vehicles Act

1988, the grant , of permits was controlled and the regulatory agencies had the

powers to fix the number of buses and number of trips on every route. But after

the enactment of Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 the issue of permits was liberalized

and as per section 80 of the act any person can ask for any permit, at any time and

it shall not be refused ordinarily. This provision applies for all permits issued

under chapter 5 (control of Motor vehicles) of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988 while

the permit issued under Chapter 6 of the Act (Special permission relating to STUs)

are caused by the scheme conditions approved by the State Governments. By the

end of 1980s the nationalization policy of passenger transport Sector showed down

and practically there was no notification of bus routes after the enactment of Motor

vehicles, Act 1980. Moreover in the economic liberalization Policy of the Indian

Government, there appears to be no political will for further expansion of bus

services. All these factors contributed to the spurt of Private Operations in the

Country.

REFERENCES:-

ASRTU study group Rev of city Transport services in State Transport news, vol, 6,

no-2, Aug. 1971, p25.

62
Astrid Jakob, John L. Craig and Gavin Fisher (2006), “Transport Cost Analysis: A

Case Study of the Total Costs of Private and Public Transport in

Auckland,” Environmental Science & Policy, Vol. 9 (www.sciencedirect.

com), pp. 55-66.

Bethal, A.C.J “Road Accident-causes and Remedial Measures” Journal of

Transport Management, vol. 13, no.6, June 1989, pl5.

Emile Quinet (2004), “A Meta-Analysis of Western European External Cost

Estimates,” Transportation Research D, Vol. 9 (www.elsevier.com/

locate/trd), Nov. 2004, pp. 465-476.

Gunther Ellwanger (2000), “External Environmental Costs of Transport -

Comparison of Recent Studies,” Social Costs and Sustainable Mobility,

ZEW, Physica-Verlag (www.springer.de), pp. 15-20.

Guptha, J.N. “In Defense of Public Sector Road Transport”. State Transport News,

vol. 4, no. 7, Jan 1970, p 7.

Inge Mayeres, Sara Ochelen and Stef Proost (1996), “Marginal External Costs of

Urban Transport,” Transportation Research D (www.elsevier.com), Vol. 1,

No. 2, pp. 111-130.

James Murphy and Mark Delucchi (1998), “A Review of the Literature on the

Social Cost of Motor Vehicle Use in the United States,” Journal of

Transportation And Statistics, Vol. 1, No. 1, Bureau of Transportation

Statistics (www.bts.gov), January 1998, pp. 15-42.

63
Kaan Ozbay, Bekir Bartin, Ozlem Yanmaz-Tuzel and Joseph Berechman (2007),

“Alternative Methods For Estimating Full Marginal Costs Of Highway

Transportation,” Transportation Research Part A, Vol. 41, No. 8

(www.science direct.com), pp. 768-786.

Mahesh Chand, S. “Financial performance of Public Road Transport

Undertakings”, Lok Udyog, April-1982,29-35.

Michael F. Gorman (2008), “Evaluating the Public Investment Mix in US Freight

Transportation Infrastructure,” Transportation Research A, Vol. 42, Issue 1

(www.elsevier.com/locate/tra), January 2008, pp. 1-14.

Murthy, S.S,”Criterria for evaluating STUs.”Joumal of Transport Management,

vol. 10, no. 4, April 1986, plO.

Quentin Heaney, Margaret O’Mahony, and Eithne Gibbons (1999), “External

Costs Associated with Interregional Transport,” Transportation Research

Record 1659, TRB (www.trb.org), pp. 79-86.

“Road Accident Scenario in India” Journal of Transport Management, vol. 17, no.

6, June 1993, p387.

64