Owners of Yangon Bus Service (YBS) busses more than 22 years old now have until June 20 to trade their clunkers in for government issued import slips which can be used to import newer vehicles, the Yangon Region Transport Authority (YRTA) has announced.
The government initially gave owners until the end or April to consign their old buses, but the YRTA has decided to push back the deadline based on feedback from bus owners and YBS passengers.
After the deadline passes, owners of busses made before 1995 will be stripped of their business licences, barring them from working in the YBS, and their old vehicles will no longer be eligible for import slips.
Owners, however, have told the YRTA they could face difficulties buying newer, more expensive vehicles while YBS users worry they could face bus shortages as a result of the consignment plan.
“Any models made before 1995 have to be consigned but I don’t know what the government plans are after we turn the old busses in to them,” said Ko Tayoke Lay, the owner of Bus Line 21 of the YBS, told Myanmar Business Today.
“If the government fails to provide a backup plan for the replacement of older models, passengers could face problems,” he added.
In January, the YRTA merged over 300 bus lines into 79, awarding up to 11 business licences to companies to operate the new routes. The reforms were said to make the system easier to regulate and to improve user satisfaction by reducing accidents and traffic congestion.
“We have to consign, it’s compulsory, but after we’ve handed in our buses we will re-invest in the bus-line company,” said Ko Tayoke Lay.
Source: Myanmar Business Today
