Missed some of those comfy rides in the plush, orange Volvo air-conditioned buses that stood in the garage for over two weeks as KSRTC could not meet the repair bills that totalled over Rs 40 lakhs?
All 13 buses will be back on the roads from Tuesday to cater to the Onam rush after the head office sanctionedRs 10 lakh under a special allocation to operate the services “with immediate effect”.
“We paid Rs 10 lakh of the over Rs 40 lakh due to VISTA, an Aroor-based company engaged with the repair and service of the Volvo buses on Monday.
The franchisee has started rolling out the buses that will resume services on the routes where non-AC buses are deployed.
As per the understanding with the service contractor, the remaining amount due will be remitted after Onam,” a top official said.
The low-floor buses account for 40 per cent of the depot’s revenue (nearly Rs 13 lakh) but since August 15, 13 of the AC low-floor buses were in garages as the contractor refused to repair defects without the dues being cleared first.
This is the second time the franchisee refused to conduct servicing of the buses — which are due for a routine service after every 30,000 km — over non-payment of its bills by the corporation. On October 24, a similar situation had arisen when the outstanding dues totalled `4 crore.