Authorities of the North Bengal State Transport Corporation (NBSTC), a state-run transport service, have decided to hand over the air-conditioned buses in its fleet to private transporters in a bid to reduce Covid-induced losses.

The buses, NBSTC officials said, would be provided to private franchisees that can run the vehicles on stipulated routes across Bengal and pay a share of their earnings to the transport corporation.

“We have already floated tenders, seeking applications from individuals and companies interested to run the bus services,” said Sandip Dutta, managing director, NBSTC.

He added that private agencies would be authorised to sell tickets, run and maintain the buses. But the ownership of these buses will be with NBSTC, he clarified. “Also, our drivers will be running these buses,” he said.

Altogether, NBSTC has 15 AC buses that run on routes, including popular ones like Siliguri-Calcutta and Siliguri-Cooch Behar.

“Because of the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown, NBSTC suffered huge losses as bus services halted. The fares of these buses are higher and so are their maintenance costs. That is why this decision has been made,” said Apurba Sarkar, the NBSTC chairman.

Back in 1945, the transport service was opened by the erstwhile kings of Cooch Behar. After the princely state of Cooch Behar was annexed in 1949, it was renamed into the NBSTC.

During the Left rule, NBSTC’s financial condition deteriorated over the years but after Mamata Banerjee came to power in 2011, many initiatives were taken to revive the transport corporation.

“During past few years, NBSTC has been providing excellent services with a new fleet of buses and by opening new routes. But it seems that the corporation, like most operators of the passenger transport sector, is confronting losses due to the pandemic and thus, it has to make such a decision,” said Sujit Dutta, a Jalpaiguri resident.