Pay dues for buses requisitioned for 2019 general election: West Bengal’s bus owners association

A private bus owners' association on Saturday demanded that the authorities pay the dues for buses requisitioned for the general elections in 2019, claiming that the money will prove handy during the financial crisis they are facing owing to the lockdown.

Joint Council of Bus Syndicates general secretary Tapan Banerjee alleged that the bus owners in the state have not been paid the remuneration due for the requisitioned vehicles with nearly a year having passed after the elections were held.

Claiming that the owners were unable to make ends meet with the buses idling for nearly three weeks, Banerjee said that "the payment will help them in these trying times."

He said that around Rs 1800 to Rs 2000 is the stipulated rate for each requisitioned bus daily.

"Thousands of buses were requisitioned by the authorities for election-related and law and order duties for an average of eight to ten days," he said.

"But except for a token advance to some vehicle owners, no remuneration was paid to the owners for the requisition so far," Banerjee said.

Both private and state transport buses are used for ferrying election materials and security personnel during the general elections, for which these are requisitioned by the authorities.