The Aam Aadmi Party government has announced ‘Premium Bus Service’, which is aimed at encouraging car owners to use public transport. Arvind Kejriwal, Chief Minister, Delhi and his cabinet have already given their node to the aforementioned scheme which will be accessible from 1 June, 2016. The registration of private buses under the scheme will start on June 1. The government will come up with a similar aggregator scheme for taxis, Gopal Rai, transport minister of Delhi said.
The fare of ‘premium buses’ will be high as it is meant to encourage the elite and upper-middle class to use public transport. “The new scheme will provide better alternative option for car users to travel in AC-buses, which will be regulated by the government. We hope that through this scheme, volume of cars will reduce on the roads,” said Transport Minister Gopal Rai.
Mr. Rai said that bus aggregators will have individual apps — like Ola, Uber — and they will be allowed to decide their fares. But if need arises, the government will prescribe upper limit of fares or take steps to check predatory pricing.
Only air-conditioned buses will ply under the scheme. A bus aggregator will have to run at least 50 vehicles to get a license from the Delhi government’s Transport department.
