Govt set to act against transport syndicate
Kathmandu, April 5
The government has recently issued vehicle route permits to an additional eight new transport companies along the Kathmandu-Banepa road section amid heightened tension on the route, citing that the government will not tolerate syndicate system in the transportation sector any more.
Different transport companies and their associations have been staging protests along the Kathmandu-Banepa road section after the government issued permit to Mayur Yatayat for the route.
Tulsi Ram Aryal, spokesperson for Department of Transport Management (DoTM), said that vehicle route permits were given to new transport companies along the Kathmandu-Banepa road section to facilitate commuters travelling along the route in the backdrop of existing transport companies busy in protest activities.
DoTM has not only issued vehicle route permits to additional transport companies along the route, but also warned that the department will scrap vehicle route permits of transporters who go against new vehicle companies in different routes.
Moreover, DoTM has also said that it will scrap the registration of those transportation associations and transport committees that are against the entry of newcomers in the industry and promote syndicate.
Syndicate system is illegal in any sector, including transportation. But this anti-competitive practice in Nepal's transportation industry is so strong that no government till date has been able to get rid of it.
Though only time shall show how successful the current government will be in controlling transport syndicate across the country, Rupnarayan Bhattarai, director general at DoTM, said that the department will adopt ‘zero tolerance' policy against transport syndicate and expressed belief that such practice in the transportation sector will be controlled completely within six months.
“Syndicate in the transport industry is illegal. The transportation industry will be guided by existing laws and policies of the government that state syndicate as illegal rather than by transporters and transport associations and committees,” said Bhattarai, adding that the government will welcome newcomers along different vehicle routes as required and take strong action against all those discouraging newcomers.
Moreover, the government recently amended the Transport Management Directive of 2004 and introduced a provision whereby the government will issue new vehicle route permits to public vehicles of only those transport companies that are registered at the DoTM. As the government had previously been issuing vehicle route permits to transporters on the basis of recommendation of different transport associations and committees, DoTM believes that this new rule will help control syndicate in the domestic transportation sector.
Though transporters have been saying that vehicle route permits should be issued for different routes by taking into consideration the level of pressure regarding the number of commuters on the concerned route, transporters are actually unwilling to talk to the media on the ‘syndicate system' in the transportation industry.
