MP private bus owners seek ₹200 crore tax waiver for April-June lockdown period

President of bus owners’ association, Govind Sharma said a delegation of the private bus operators will meet chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, and if discussions fail, the association will “seriously think” of suspending services from July 15

Private bus owners in Madhya Pradesh have called for a waiver of permit tax for the period between April and June this year, citing the loss of revenue they experienced due to not operating their businesses during these months for coronavirus (Covid-19)-induced lockdown, news agency PTI reported.

The bus owners' association said that they have to pay monthly permit tax despite suffering monetary losses, and that they do not have anymore money to continue paying the tax. (Raj K Raj/HT Archive)

Govind Sharma, president of the Prime Route Bus Owners Association in Madhya Pradesh told PTI that a delegation of the private bus operators is scheduled to meet Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Saturday evening to seek waiver of ₹200 crore tax amount.

According to the PTI report, Sharma pointed out that the private bus owners will “seriously think” of discontinuing services, primarily intra-state from July 15, should discussions with the state government fail. He added that the association has to pay the monthly permit tax despite facing enormous monetary losses from the lockdown. “[We] don’t have money to pay the tax,” Sharma was quoted as saying by PTI.

He further highlighted that private bus operators, who run nearly 35,000 buses in the state, own at least 10-40 buses each. Sharma also claimed that these owners owe nearly ₹200 crore to the state government in the form of permit tax for the last three months.

Bus services in the state primarily rely on private players after the MP Road Transport Corporation (MPSRTC) was declared defunct years ago.

Madhya Pradesh’s capital Bhopal was put under ‘corona curfew’ on April 1, and the unlock phase only started from June 1.