Kerala Urban Road Transport Corporation pays Rs 1.6 crore outstanding dues to Volvo

Kochi: As many as 75 AC low-floor buses were in the dock at one point last month after the Volvo company refused to undertake maintenance demanding that the Kerala Urban Road Transport Corporation (KURTC) settle pending dues first. The authorities finally decided to act in the wake of the high demand from commuters who increasingly opted to travel in AC buses to escape the scorching heat. KURTC paid Rs 1.6 crore as outstanding dues to the Volvo company “to take benefit of the season”.

“The last two days saw 29 of the buses with complaints such as filter change, oil change and the like back on the roads. Another 20 buses will be repaired in the next two days and deployed for service. The rest have serious engine works which will take two to three weeks time,” a senior KURTC official said. In Ernakulam region alone, 13 of the total 24 buses in the dock were deployed back for services in the last two days. “The collection reaches record levels during the summer months of April and May as passengers choose to travel in AC comfort. We wanted to deploy all the AC buses and will try to keep those in the dock to a minimum,” the officer said. Special services are being operated especially at noon connecting major cities. “The Ernakulam-Kozhikode special service last Sunday raked in Rs 29, 500 and most of the Thiruvananthapuram services touch Rs 30, 000 against the usual average Rs 20, 000,” he said.