Kerala's tourist bus for sale, priced at Rs 45/kg

By Team Newsable | First Published Feb 12, 2022, 4:01 PM IST

The owner of Roy Tourism, Royson Joseph, said he had sold 20 tourist buses in the last 12-18 months.

Tourist Bus for Sale, Rs 45 per kg! Strange to hear? Well, the owner of Roy Tourism in Ernakulam (Kerala), Royson Joseph, through his Facebook post, shared by the Contract Carriage Operators Association Kerala (CCOA), the association of tourist bus owners, announced that he is selling his buses for Rs 45 per kg as scrap. Until now, Joseph has sold ten buses in the last 12-18 months, post-pandemic. He said his business is disrupted due to the Covid pandemic, and it's difficult to survive.

While talking to the Asianet News, Joseph said, "It is difficult to live. We need to pay the financiers and loans. It's not just me; there are many. I have no option rather than to sell my buses as scrap. I have loans to pay."

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"After paying Rs 40,000 tax and Rs 75,000 as insurance, my bus gets on the road. After all other expenses, including maintenance and salary of employees, it is difficult for me to survive. The bus owners were promised help. However, there is no relief by the govt side and the banks," Joseph said.

The travel restrictions have brought the tourist bus operators to their knees following the pandemic. Last week, just three tourist buses got a trip to Munnar for four days. Joseph said, in February, in Munnar, there is heavy traffic. However, now the entire stretch is deserted.

Joseph added he is ready to sell his buses to anyone ready to pay him Rs 45 per kg to repay his loans, understanding that many tourist bus operators are on the verge of suicide.

Binu John, CCOA state president, said the number of tourist buses in Kerala has dropped from 14,000 to less than 12,000 due to the money lenders seizing some of them after the operators defaulted on payments. He said that banks or money lenders have attached over 1,000 buses in the last two months alone.

Binu added the exact number could be traced after March. They fear more than 2,000 to 3,000 tourist buses will be attached by the banker and money lenders by next month or so. The constant changing Covid travel rules in the state is the major problem.

Joseph said there are 8-10 day package tours where they pick up tourists from Kochi airport and drop them off at Thiruvananthapuram airport after visiting central locations. But then the government declares a Sunday lockdown, and the police charge them Rs 2,000 for operating on a Sunday. This is where they have to pay a lot of money for road, vehicle, and parking fees.

The road/vehicle tax paid by a tourist bus operator is approximately Rs 40,000 per quarter. S Prashanthan of Viswasree Services said there is also the high fuel cost and other expenses. They want the state government to suspend the tax until all Covid restrictions are lifted. Another unintended consequence is job loss.

Until now, 50 staff at the Joseph travel have left the company due to the plunge in income. Binu said although the Union government asked banks to extend the moratorium period following the first wave of the pandemic, most banks stopped using the facility.

Binu explained that the owners are obligated to pay their EMI instalments by the due date. The maximum number of trips that an owner can take in a month is three, resulting in a meagre average income of Rs 20,000. It's challenging to pay the employees' wages, cover the operational costs, and pay the EMI with these insufficient funds.

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