Court raps Tata, Ashok Leyland for delay in supplying buses
January 20th, 2010 - 8:53 pm ICT by IANS
New Delhi, Jan 20 (IANS) The Delhi High Court Wednesday pulled up Tata Motors and Ashok Leyland for running way behind the prescribed schedule for supplying low-floor buses to the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC). The court even warned them of cancellation of contract.
A division bench of Justice Vikramjit Sen and Justice Manmohan Singh said: “We have to look for alternatives if they (Tata and Ashok Leyland) are not able to fulfill the order.”
The court’s stern remarks came when Ashok Leyland counsel informed the court that 203 buses were available for delivery but the DTC was not taking them. DTC counsel told the court these buses would not be taken before they pass the prescribed tests, and this takes some time.
A total of 3,124 low-floor buses are to be given to the DTC for phasing out the privately-owned Blueline buses from the capital roads by March.
DTC counsel informed the court that Ashok Leyland should have provided 875 buses till date but they supplied only 60.
On this the court said: “You pull up your socks and supply the buses or else we will look for other options. Failure to do so may leave no option but to cancel the contract.”
Tata Motors counsel assured the ccourt the company will supply 200 buses every month from the total 2,032 buses it has contracted for. Tata Motors has so far supplied 419 buses.
The court also took note of the fact that drivers were overburdened and said: “A major cause for the casualties on roads at the hands of the Blueline operators is over-speeding, which is a consequence of the efforts and intentions of effecting the maximum number of trips possible in a day. This problem can be ameliorated once a ceiling or cap on the number of trips permissible is prescribed by the State Transport Authority (STA).”
The court asked the state counsel to inform as to what can be done for prescribing the limit on the number of journeys by a bus in a day by Feb 2.
“This information is critical for the reason that drivers ought not to suffer from fatigue, which will inexorably lead to accidents, which will be the automatic consequence if their duty hours go beyond eight hours,” the court said.
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- 500 more low-floor buses to ply on Delhi roads - Sep 29, 2010
- Delhi ordered to pay more than Rs.100 crore to Ashok Leyland - May 13, 2011
- Tata Motors rapped for low-floor buses' fire accidents - Dec 16, 2009
- Court seeks time-frame to procure more buses - Feb 18, 2010
- Corporate bigwigs to make inroads into Delhi bus services - Nov 01, 2010
- Blueline operators can run buses as a co-op, court told - Sep 16, 2011
- Tata Motors allowed delayed delivery of 625 low-floor buses - Jun 29, 2010
- World class transport facilities in Delhi for Games - Jul 19, 2010
- Blueline buses get brief lease of life (Second Lead) - Jan 31, 2011
- Delhi to add 4,000 buses to tide over Blueline phaseout - Jan 13, 2011
- Delhi to miss deadline to phase out Blueline buses - Jan 13, 2010
- Delhi government fines Tata Motors Rs.4 crore - Dec 14, 2009
- Blueline buses not to return to Delhi roads - Oct 25, 2010
- Delhi government fines Tata Motors Rs.4 crore (Lead) - Dec 14, 2009
Tags: ashok leyland, cancellation of contract, casualties, cr, delhi high court, division bench, feb 2, floor buses, journeys, manmohan, manmohan singh, maximum number, New Delhi, raps, socks, state counsel, state transport authority, stern remarks, tata motors, transport corporation