Loopholes in fixing GPS, panic button in tourist vehicles opposed in protest near RTO

Mysore/Mysuru: Mysore District Tourist Vehicles Drivers and Owners Welfare Association staged a protest in front of the Regional Transport Office (RTO) West, on Vani Vilasa Road in the city yesterday, opposing the installation of Geographical Positioning System (GPS) and Panic Button for tourist vehicles, in an unscientific manner.

The protesters demanded that, the Government itself should bear the cost of installing GPS and Panic Button and also slash the tax levied on tourist vehicles by 30 percent. Along with that, action should be taken against those bus operators, who have been getting the registration of their vehicles done outside the State, at the cost of State bus operators, resulting in a huge loss to the State exchequer. Such vehicles should be seized by the RTO or else we will bring all our 250 buses to the RTO and return the documents and keys to RTO, they warned.

Stringent action should be taken against the private vehicles with white board, with self-drive option, taking the people on trip with the service available by booking the same on App. The fine imposed on tourist vehicles on Mysuru-Bengaluru Expressway should also be stopped and 10 percent of the total tax, collected from tourist vehicles should be returned, the agitators demanded.

Former Mysuru-Kodagu MP Prathap Simha, who visited the protest site and extended his support to the protest, sought information from the RTO Officials.

Speaking later, Simha said “Following the implementation of Shakti Scheme (which offers free ride for women in KSRTC buses), there are not much takers for private vehicles, pushing those vehicle owners towards the brink of uncertainty. I won’t comment much on Shakti Scheme, but it was a good decision on the part of the Centre to fix GPS and Panic Button to public transport vehicles.”

“However, it wasn’t right to hand over the task of fitting these equipment to 12 private companies through tender, who have been charging exorbitant rates, while they are available at the affordable rates in the range of Rs. 1,000 to Rs. 2,000. Such loopholes should be addressed or else, we will be staging a Statewide protest,” he warned.

Association office-bearer Arunkumar, District President C. Ravi, General Secretary Kaushik and others took part in the protest.