| ashu |
Posted
on 25-Feb-04 05:36 PM
HAN = Hotel Association of Nepal. This is a trade association that fixes prices, and it includes only the top hotels of Kathmandu.
Federation of Nepalese Transport Entrepreneurs is another cartel.
Let's have fun reading how these two cartels have reacted to the same news.
oohi
ashu
ktm,nepal
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HAN welcomes Nepal-India transport agreement
Hotel Association Nepal (HAN) issuing a press statement on Tuesday
welcomed the recently signed Nepal-India transport agreement, various reports said.
In the statement, HAN stated the agreement will enable both Nepali and Indian tourists to travel in the countries easily, which in turn will boost the tourism of both the countries. nepalnews.com rs Feb 25 04
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Transporters flay govt for transport accord with India
KOL Report
KATHMANDU, Feb 25 - Transport entrepreneurs on Tuesday lambasted the government for signing a preliminary agreement on inter-city bus services with India citing that it goes against the interest of Nepali bus operators.
They urged the government to review the agreement immediately or face their protest, a schedule of which, they claimed, has already been prepared and would be announced in the near future, if the government turned deaf ear to their demand.
Speaking at a programme, Punya Lal Pradhan, senior vice-president of Federation of Nepalese Transport Entrepreneurs, argued that the cost of operating bus services for Nepali transporters was higher than that of the Indian counterpart, thus eroding the level of field playing for Nepali bus operators.
“This condition alone is sufficient to prevent Nepali entrepreneurs from exploiting the opportunities of penetrating the major Indian sectors. Besides, it will also instigate unfair competition in the sector,” he said.
Referring to a condition of the agreement, he said, “The very condition that Nepal can operate only vehicles manufactured in India and not those brought from the third country reveals that the agreement is not in favour of Nepali operators.”
Pradhan even went on to charge the government of signing the agreement against the competitive interest of local bus operators. He claimed that the agreement was signed in a ‘suspicious’ way, hurriedly and without consultations with local stakeholders.
“Similar efforts were made to ink the agreement in the past, but were foiled by the protests of local entrepreneurs. The government this time, however, preferred to sign the agreement without informing us,” he added.
Surya Bhattarai, general secretary of the federation said that the agreement would open the vast Indian sector for Nepali bus operators. “But there are a lot of practical problems for local entrepreneurs to take advantage of the situation,” he said.
One of the major hassles, he pointed out, would be the differences in transportation and route policy existing between the state and the central government of India itself. “There is a high degree of mismatch between the policies of state governments and the central government in India and this in no way portrays better picture for Nepali bus operators,” he argued.
Bishnu Shivakoti, president of the federation, argued that the operation of direct bus services between major Nepali and Indian cities would affect hotels, other travel trade and supporting businesses of bordering Nepali cities.
“This reflects how India is directly trying to take control of Nepali economy,” he said, urging the government to review the agreement. The government on Monday signed a preliminary agreement committing to allow operation of 53 buses in 14 routes between major cities of Nepal and India through five transit points. (snn)
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| czar |
Posted
on 25-Feb-04 09:20 PM
In the 90’s, a friend and I wondered if the transport sector could be a profitable market for a computerized reservation system. A rough preliminary survey was conducted on route and passenger traffic, ticket prices, load factors etc followed by a quick capital budgeting exercise. The numbers were very attractive. Some bus owners were sounded out and they were very interested. We even created demo software!
Given the very enthusiastic interest, we chose to do some further quiet nosing around at the main bus terminal in Gongabu. What we discovered was that the bus owner had, at best, partial control of the cash flow. It was the bus driver and ticket collector who handled all the cash from the sale of bus tickets, both from the terminal’s sale counter and whatever cargo/passengers they picked up on the road. The owner got whatever this duo chose to hand over to him! Of course, he was also slammed with the repair and maintenance costs.
So, when we turned up proposing a computerized system that tracked counter sales down to the last penny, the bus owners salivated at the prospect. Save for one fly in the ointment: the transport workers’ union. This lot had at that time staged strikes that were successful in getting the govt. to back pedal on reform proposals. There was intimidation of bus owners and passengers alike. This was a mafia operation that had their hands in the till, and they would cheerfully slit our throats and burn buses rather than allow a computerized reservation system to be implemented.
Now the Indian govt. breezes in and pulls the rug from under the transport mafia’s feet. And they even had the chutzpah to stipulate that only Indian made buses can be used. Hats off to them.
If not, it may have been profitable to procure some luxury coaches from Volvo/ Mercedes / Iveco and run regular service to Calcutta, Patna, and Lucknow. And perhaps give the Indian bus-wallahs a run for their Bha-ru. Something to chew on, eh? But alas and alack.. apnai banda pith pey chhura mara.
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