No interest will be charged on the capital support provided by the Centre and state governments to loss-making road transport corporations across the country, according to the draft bill prepared by the road transport ministry to amend the Road Transport Corporations Act, 1950, and the accompanying rules.
“This bill will be tabled during the Budget session of Parliament in February,” said a source in the ministry.
There are 53 state transport undertakings in the country and only eight are making a profit and the rest posted a combined loss of Rs 2,000 crore in 2007.
The Bill also talks of more professional management to handle state transport corporations’ powers to decide on fare hikes and mobilise funds. The Bill proposes to appoint a more professional board, constituting members from the road transport ministry, Planning Commission and finance ministry. As of now, there are representatives only from the road transport ministry in the board.
Also, the proposal states an all-India service officer must be chairman of a transport corporation. Now, it is headed by soeone who has served in the armed forces.
The draft proposal also talks of providing powers to transport corporations in deciding dynamic fare and freight policy. “This will help the transport corporations in deciding the fares and make them more professional,” said a source in the ministry.
Fares are now decided by state governments and there have been instances where the state corporations have not raised their fares for around 15 years, as it is a very unpopular move.
The draft also aims to allow state transport corporations to monetise their assets. “This means they can use the land they have for opening shoping malls and using it in many other ways to earn money,” said the source.
The ministry has proposed to set up a Central Regulatory Road Transport Authority, an autonomous body to check state transport undertakings’ losses and to help develop roads across the country.
