INDIA: The Arvind Kejriwal led-AAP government in Delhi will introduce a scheme, subject to the lieutenant governor’s approval, under which private aggregators will run premium buses to serve middle-class and upper-middle-class travellers.
The Delhi CM Kejriwal officially declared the newly initiated bus would be the first-of-its-kind city bus service in the country, which will allow people to book their seats via mobile app.
He stated that there is no assurance of a seat or the level of comfort that a person of middle-class or upper-middle class would anticipate in buses operated by Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and Delhi Integrated Multi-Modal Transit System Limited (DIMTS). He added that people from the lower-middle class typically ride on them, thus they don’t utilise these buses very often.
Women would not be entitled to enjoy free rides on these buses. Basically, the rates of the premium buses will be market-driven. The privately operated buses will accompany these facilities, such as WiFi, CCTV, GPS, panic button, and many other facilities.
The AAP convener, in his official statement, said, “According to the scheme, private aggregators who have paid a licence fee to the Delhi government will operate the buses. Only CNG and electric buses that are under three years old are permitted to operate in the premium bus service. Electric buses utilised in the service will not have to pay a licence fee. No one will be permitted to board the bus without a pre-booked ticket.”
Furthermore, CM Kejriwal said, “We are submitting the premium bus service scheme file to the LG for review. The aggregators have been informed that they are not permitted to set their prices below that of the DTC [Delhi Transport Corporation] buses.”
As per updated information, Delhi currently has 7,379 public buses (3319 cluster buses and 4060 DTC buses) alongside 300 electric buses, which run in more than 600 bus routes.
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