Jamshedpur, Nov. 24: The issue of license to long-distance buses has been resolved.

Transport minister of Bihar Ajit Kumar, while talking to The Telegraph over phone from Patna, said a decision in this connection was taken following a secretary-level talk on Wednesday.

“The permanent permit would be issued for five years. It would have a provision of renewal after every five years,” he said.

According to Kumar, necessary formalities for issuing permanent permits would be completed in the next 10 days.

He added that the permanent permit would cost Rs 8,570 and that the payment would have to be made after 119 days.

The Jharkhand private bus owners had stopped operating across Bihar routes earlier this month following a hike in the permit fee. The Bihar transport department had made it mandatory for private long-distance buses, from Jharkhand, to pay Rs 42,500 instead of the existing Rs 8,570.

This had also led to a strike, which continued for six days. It was only after an assurance of lowering the permit fee that the private bus operators withdrew their strike.

Chief patron of Jharkhand Bus Owners’ Association, Upendra Sharma welcomed the Bihar government’s decision. “Issuance of permanent permits would further motivate operators to improve their services. When the Jharkhand government had not increased the fee, there was no reason as to why the Bihar government chose to increase the same,” Sharma pointed out. Statistics from the state transport department revealed that on an average around 400 private buses ply from Jharkhand to destinations across Bihar. But, a majority of them ply on a temporary permit.