Kathmandu, July 19

Transport bodies, including transport companies and associations across the country, have formally announced their shift into companies from today.

Organising a programme in the Capital today, the Federation of Nepali National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNNTE) announced that all transport bodies have transformed themselves into company modality in line with government’s direction.

“All transport bodies under FNNTE have transformed themselves into company modality as sought by the government. We expect support from the government in the future to strengthen and further improve the public transportation sector of the country,” said Saroj Sitaula, general secretary of FNNTE.

Inaugurating the event, Minister for Transport and Physical Infrastructure Raghubir Mahaseth, said the transformation of transport bodies into companies has ended the syndicate system that existed in the public transportation sector.

As part of ending the syndicate system that was widely prevalent in public transportation sector and bringing public transportation under tax net, government had directed transport bodies to operate only after registering under the company modality more than one year ago. Moreover, government had then frozen the bank accounts and other assets of those transport bodies that had refused to register as a ‘company’ and had backed the transport syndicate.

The move to make transport bodies register as company was intended not only to end monopoly of transporters in public transportation sector and ensure sector’s healthy growth, but also to bring Nepal’s public transport sector, which has transactions worth billions of rupees annually, under the income tax net of government.

As per government statistics, there are over 200,000 public vehicles, including passenger and goods-carrying vehicles across the country. Similarly, transport bodies (transport committees and associations) are expected to be almost 1,500 in number in the country.

FNNTE has claimed all these transport bodies have transformed themselves into company modality.