Eden Transport Private Service on Tuesday announced suspension of the ring route bus service following alleged conflict with Bihar State Road Transport Corporation over dues.

Disagreement between the private bus service provider and Bihar State Road Transport Corporation (BSRTC) for nearly two years over numerous issues related to the public-private partnership (PPP) allegedly prompted the move. According to the PPP agreement signed in March 2011, Eden Transport Private Service was operating 70 non-AC (32-seater) and eight AC (36-seater) buses on seven routes of Patna under the BSRTC banner.

Kunal Sharma, the chief operations officer of Eden Transport Private Service, said: “We were hearing allegations from the BSRTC over the past couple of weeks that we owe to the corporation Rs 5.03 crore under the royalty head. We would like to contradict this statement and put an end to this one-sided story.”

He said: “According to the PPP agreement between us, we have to pay just Rs 6.44 lakh to the BSRTC. The state corporation, on the other hand, has to shell out Rs 3.9 crore as subsidy against procurement of buses. We have also claimed compensation of Rs 1.01 crore for non-utilisation of our buses for no fault of ours. Apart from payments, the BSRTC has failed to fulfil numerous clauses under the PPP agreement. We have thus been forced to suspend our operations.”

Sharma alleged that the BSRTC had failed to provide basic infrastructure like bus stops. As a result, buses were penalised and seized by the police, he claimed.

“We can resume the bus service if our demands are met with and if BSRTC fulfils its responsibilities,” added Sharma.