Several school bus associations faced a difficult time this morning due to the currency chaos, as many educational institutions resumed sessions today, after the Diwali break
Several school bus associations faced a difficult time this morning due to the currency chaos, as many educational institutions resumed sessions today, after the Diwali break. School transport service providers are complaining that their services may be hit, as the general practice among these transporters is to make cash payments and payment has been a problem at many petrol pumps, they said.
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As buses had not been refuelled during the Diwali break, several school transport providers made a run for petrol pumps last night.
"At least 15-20 per cent of school buses have been affected as there were tiffs between the drivers and petrol pump operators due to last minute re-fuelling. But in the bigger petrol pumps there were fewer hassles as they allowed use of e-card called ‘Drive Track’ that debits money when buses are refueled," said a bus fleet owner.
"I took my buses for refuelling at around 9.30 pm yesterday, but workers refused to accept Rs 500 and Rs 1,000 notes saying they still hadn’t been intimated that petrol pumps could accept these denominations," said Arjun Singh, a school bus contractor in Andheri. He added, "If this chaos continues at other petrol pumps, it will be difficult for us to operate."
Speaking to mid-day Anil Garg, president of School Bus Owner's Association, Mumbai, said, "As per income tax rules, we are not allowed to own credit cards, so most bus operators go the cash way. The government should have given us at least 3-4 days time to avoid this crisis."
Rohan Bhatt, chairman of the Children’s Academy Group of School, said, "We didn’t face much problem as we had refuelled our buses a few days ago. But these buses may need to be refuelled again soon, so we are considering if we will issue cheques for the transactions."
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