Buses of Eden Transport Private Service at Phulwarisharif on Wednesday. Picture by Jai Prakash

The suspension of the ring route bus service hardly had any impact on citizens on Wednesday, but the alleged indifference of Bihar State Road Transport Corporation towards providing infrastructure to private players could land long-distance commuters in trouble in the future.

A day after Eden Transport Private Service — the ring route bus service provider — cried foul over lack of infrastructure, officials of Hyderabad-based Gireesh Infrastructure Private Limited that runs inter-district and inter-state AC luxury buses on Wednesday questioned the seriousness of Bihar State Road Transport Corporation (BSRTC) on continuing with the service.

Gireesh Kumar Sanghi, the chairman of Gireesh Infrastructure Pvt. Ltd, said: “We have delivered 29 buses to the BSRTC till date but only 13 are running on streets. The rest are standing idle in want of permits, which is the responsibility of the corporation.

“The BSRTC authorities do not show any enthusiasm in getting the permits issued for our buses, which run under their banner. It is becoming increasingly difficult for us to operate the buses because of poor co-operation and slow decisions on the part of the BSRTC. They have not provided us with any infrastructure and facilities, which were promised in the agreement. We have not been paid subsidy like Eden Transport Private Service,” he added.

On Tuesday, Kunal Sharma, the chief operation officer of Eden Transport Private Service, had talked in similar tune. “The BSRTC has not spent even a single paisa on the operation of these (ring route) buses. It has also failed to provide any basic facility such as bus stops or bus stands within the city,” he had said.

A day after Sharma announced the suspension if the ring route bus service, the commuters did not suffer much because of multiple public transport options in the city. There are over 300 city service minibuses and around 7,000 autorickshaws.

“I did not face any inconvenience in reaching my office this (Wednesday) morning in the absence of the of ring route buses. I travelled by one of the city service buses. Both the buses take around the same time to traverse the distance from Ashiana Mor to Patna Junction but the fare in the city service buses is Rs 8 for the stretch. I had to pay Rs 6 in ring route buses,” said Sunil Kumar, a resident of Ashiana Nagar.

Several commuters opted for autorickshaws, too. “I used to prefer ring route buses over the city service buses because of better condition of vehicles. As I could not see any ring route bus on Tuesday, I took an autorickshaw. I was charged Rs 3 in the three-wheeler for the distance I travelled for Rs 2 in route buses,” said Hema Devi, a resident of Yarpur.