Bhubaneswar: An association of private bus owners of the state on Monday said they would go on an indefinite strike from March 14 in protest against the city bus service operating between cities. The association also demanded formulation of a policy for city bus service.

All-Odisha Bus Owners' Association general secretary Debendra Sahoo said the city bus service was meant to ply within the cities but subsequently the buses started plying on the state highways and national highways.

"The private operators of city bus services get buses free of cost from the state government and have started a competition with the private bus owner who procure buses by bank loans. We are not against the bus service but if the government wants a fair competition, it must ask the city bus service operators to procure the buses by paying money," said Sahoo.

The city bus service first started in Bhubaneswar in 2010. Later, the service was extended to Cuttack and Puri. Subsequently, the service was introduced in other cities such as Berhampur, Sambalpur, Balasore and Koraput. The association has also given a memorandum to the state transport department in this connection.

"The state government has been giving them an advantage by slotting times that clash with us. There should be fair competition between the city buses and private buses. If the government is so keen on the service, it should assign Odisha State Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC) to manage the service instead of benefiting the private operators," said Sahoo.

According to the decision of the association, as many as 17,000 private buses will join the indefinite strike and stay off roads. The association has also been demanding for fixation of a separate fare for buses plying in the KBK district. "The transport department has been ignoring our demands for which we had decided to launch a strike in October. However, we had cancelled our decision after the government assured to look into our demands. But the state government has not done anything to solve our problems," said another association member.