Nagpur: Alarmed over the growing impact of illegally operated private buses on the city’s Aapli Bus, Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) on Saturday directed transport authorities and police to launch a coordinated crackdown on contract carriage buses violating permit conditions.The decision was taken at a meeting convened by the NMC transport department and chaired by mayor Neeta Thakre.Thakre said several private buses operating under contract carriage permits for schools, industries, govt offices, tourism, weddings and religious events were allegedly ferrying general passengers in violation of permit conditions.Such buses are meant to be hired by a single person, institution or groups under a prior contract and are prohibited from operating like stage carriage buses by following fixed routes, picking up passengers from bus stops or collecting individual fares.She said the illegal operations were adversely affecting NMC’s city bus service and causing significant financial losses to the civic body. NMC currently operates a fleet of around 730 Aapli Buses on over 100 routes, providing services within a 20-km radius of the city and up to 10 km in the NMRDA area. NMC is pumping around Rs190 crore as viability gap funding to run the Aapli Bus fleet.The mayor directed the traffic police, RTOs and MSRTC officials to conduct regular inspections of suspected buses and organise surprise joint enforcement drives to identify operators violating permit conditions. She stressed the need for close coordination among all enforcement agencies to ensure effective implementation of the law.Officials said enforcement teams will verify contracts, passenger details and other permit documents during inspections. Buses found illegally operating by picking up and dropping passengers en route or charging individual fares will face action under the Motor Vehicles Act, including penalties, suspension or cancellation of permits, and other legal proceedings.NMC officials said sustained enforcement is essential to curb unauthorised passenger transport, protect the city’s public transport network and prevent further revenue losses to the civic body.Officials from the city and rural traffic police, Regional Transport Offices (City, Rural and Deputy RTO-East), Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) and NMC’s transport department attended the meeting.
