Volvo slams brake on KSRTC’s AC Parade
Volvo Buses India has slammed the brakes on KSRTC’s Orange Parade. News sources claim that KSRTC has not settled its dues with Volvo, and that Volvo has decided not to deliver buses to KSRTC until the dues are cleared. KSRTC had placed orders for 80 Low-Floor city buses, of which 62 have already been delivered (42 for Kochi and 20 for Trivandrum). This dims the chances of Kochi getting more of those swanky low-floor AC buses. Passengers in Kochi have recieved the buses whole-heartedly, and buses have been returning good collections.
More news from The New Indian Express:
Sources in Volvo said the company would deliver buses to the cities after the dues were cleared.
“However, the payment for the last set of buses which were delivered is yet to be cleared and the company has decided not to deliver the remaining buses,” sources said.
Though 80 buses were sanctioned for both the cities, the KSRTC had earlier decided to restrict the number of buses in Thiruvananthapuram to 20, owing to the poor response. It had also planned to roll out the remaining number of buses in Kochi.
However, a Corporation official said that the civic body was unaware of the issue. “Since the state government has not formed the special purpose vehicle (SPV) at the time of the launch of the buses, their operation is fully controlled by the KSRTC itself. They will not discuss any developments in this regard with the Corporation,” the official said.
“The buses were introduced as part of the public transport project under the JNNURM. The formation of the SPV for the management of these buses is mandatory as per the JNNURM guidelines. But the KSRTC has ignored this and conducted operations according to its plans,” the official said.
