The Bengal Bus Syndicate has suggested a profit-sharing arrangement that it believes will curb the speed menace.

According to the proposal that the syndicate submitted to the transport department on Monday, a bus-owner will keep 60 per cent of the “net profit” and the distribute the rest among the driver and the conductors.

“We believe the system will help rein in rogue drivers,” said syndicate president Swarnakamal Saha. “The drivers will be more responsible and accountable if their income is linked with the net profit.”

Net profit is the difference between the earning and the expenses on account of fuel, maintenance and other costs like penalty paid for rash driving or violation of traffic rules.

A driver now gets 12 per cent and a conductor six per cent of the proceeds from ticket sales on each trip.

“As long as the system continues, no one can curb rash driving. The drivers don’t care about rules because they know that the fines for rule violations will be paid by the owner,” said Saha.

If the syndicate’s proposal is implemented, a part of the penalty for rash driving will have to be borne by the drivers and the conductors.

Citu, which controls the unions of the drivers and conductors, however, rubbished the syndicate’s proposal and reiterated its demand for introduction of salaries for the bus employees.

Citu general secretary Kali Ghosh said: “The proposal is not worth considering as it is biased against the drivers and conductors.”

He demanded that a minimum wage be fixed for the transport workers and they not be forced to work beyond eight hours.