Mangaluru: Prasanna Patwardhan, president of All India Bus and Car Operators’ Confederation of India (BOCI) opined that monopoly will never bring quality services in any sector.
Speaking to the reporters at Grand Bay Popular Farms located at Maravoor on Friday, March 8, where curtain raiser programme was organised in connection with the second edition of the India International Bus and Car Travel Show ‘Prawaas’, scheduled at CIDCO Convention and Exhibition Center in Navi Mumbai between July 25 and 27, he said, if there is competition between two firms or institutions, people would get quality services. Monopoly does not result in quality,” he said.
Patwardhan informed that the demands of BOCI should be entertained as it is striving hard to provide good services to the people. “Government prevents buses and taxis from getting access into the railway station and airport. Thus common man cannot access public transport system. There is no such situation in developed countries like Singapore, where buses and taxis are allowed to operate within 500 to 600 meter away from the airport”, he said.
He also asked the government to give importance on developing infrastructure. Due to lack of footpath, pedestrians find it very difficult to move from one place to another in cities. Crossing the roads is very dangerous in every city, which results in fatal accidents. The government needs to give more emphasis on strengthening infrastructure”, he said.
Informing about the scheduled programme ‘Prawaas’ at Mumbai Patwardhan said, “The central theme of the second edition of Prawaas is ‘ towards safe, smart, sustainable passenger mobility’ and it will trigger focused interactions amongst operators, manufacturers, policymakers, regulators, sector experts and media.
“In India, there is an urgent need to address various issues like uniform taxation, better infrastructure, bus ports, simplified regulatory framework among others”, he added.
