Kathmandu, October 1

The Public Accounts Committee of the House of Representatives today directed the government to ban 20-year old public vehicles across the country.

The parliamentary panel’s order came after the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport moved a proposal in the Cabinet to allow 20-year old public vehicles to transport passengers and goods if deemed fit by the Department of Transport Management. The panel issued the directive after discussing the matter with government officials from the line ministry and the Department of Transport Management.

“We should not allow 20-year old public vehicles to ply,” PAC Chair Bharat Kumar Shah said after the meeting.

Members of the PAC — independent lawmaker Hridyesh Tripathi and Lekhraj Bhatta of the Nepal Communist Party (NCP) — said the ministry’s proposal would only encourage corruption.

The Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport had proposed allowing operation of 20-year-old public vehicles in cities other than Kathmandu and Pokhara. Some lawmakers wondered why the government wanted to protect only the residents of Kathmandu and Pokhara from the hazards of 20-year-old vehicles.

The ministry’s proposal is under consideration of the Cabinet. “These old vehicles can only ply in the eastern and western hill districts. We have received numerous requests from the public, people’s representatives and entrepreneurs seeking to operate old public vehicles. That’s why we forwarded a proposal to the Cabinet. If the Cabinet thinks it is an appropriate proposal, it will endorse it, if not, it will reject it,” Secretary of the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport Madhusudan Adhikari told the PAC meeting.

The government had decided one-and-a-half years ago to ban 20-year-old public vehicles keeping in mind the pollution and accidents they cause.

According to DoTM, there are around 10,000 public vehicles across the country that have been plying for more than 20 years.

Adhikari defended the government’s proposal, saying that the argument that old vehicles would be useless was wrong, as changing spare parts and repairing old vehicles could extend their life span.