House panel tells ministry to listen to transport entrepreneurs’ woes

Kathmandu, Jun 25

The Development and Technology Committee of the Federal Parliament directed the government to provide concession in tax, reschedule the loans and extend refinancing services to the transport entrepreneurs to mitigate the COVID-19 inflicted impacts on the business.

“The COVID-19 has created a risk of losing the investment made in the public transportation sector, therefore, they should be supported with the loan rescheduling and refinancing, tax discount and concessional loan to repair the vehicles at the earliest,” the committee directed the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) and Department of Transport Management (DoTM).

It asked the government and MoPIT to create a concrete plan for the operation of public transportation in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic and provide the plan to the committee.

After the discussion with the Director General of the DoTM Gogan Bahadur Hamal and officials on Thursday, the House panel directed the ministry and department to establish vehicle washing centres at the entry of the Kathmandu Valley and other major cities in order to save them from dust carried by the vehicles. It also asked them to establish such facilities by the end of the next fiscal year 2020/21.

Likewise, the committee directed the ministry to regulate the unchecked entry and exit of the Indian vehicles. It also asked to create an integrated information system to regulate and manage smart license, embossed number and GPS tracking of the vehicles.

To create policy stability in the transportation sector, the committee directed the ministry and department to create a national policy in cooperation and collaboration among the federal, state and local governments.

It also asked to create separate standards to obtain the license for the private and public vehicles in order to make the present license system more effective and well managed, and not allow the individual holding the license for the private vehicle to drive a public one.

The house panel also directed the MoPIT to conduct the Organisation and Management survey of the DoTM and provide enough human resources as the department and offices under it were facing difficulties in extending its services due to the shortage of staff.

Published in The Rising Nepal daily on 26 June 2020.