Mumbai: Bus owners protest against faulty Ashok Leyland model

A defective Ashok Leyland bus

Around 61 bus operators and members of the Mumbai Bus Owners Association, a registered association of passenger bus owners in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR), are protesting against Ashok Leyland buses, which have been experiencing multiple faults on the road. The bus owners claim that the company has not responded to their concerns and have been staging protests at the company's showroom in Naigaon. The bus association is also affiliated with the Bus and Car Operators Confederation of India (BOCI), a national body of passenger vehicles.

"Since the last six months, our members have made many written and verbal complaints to the company and also had meetings with officials about a 13.5-metre-long bus model, which has found various defects resulting in frequent breakdowns on the road. Due to the rise in the number of such defective vehicles on roads, bus operators have been facing several problems on the road on a daily basis," Vivek Shetty, one of the bus owners, said.

Bus owners stage a protest at the company's showroom in Naigaon

"As the vehicle gets stuck on the road late at night, passengers suffer and have to be sent by another bus, suffering mental and financial losses also leading to traffic jams as the vehicle gets stuck. There is also a high possibility of an accident with such a defective vehicle, putting passenger lives at stake," he added.

"All these buses were procured about five to six months ago and there was a serious accident involving one of the buses during the Goa trip. The blame of any accident then comes on the bus owners and drivers. The bus company is probably delaying and waiting for the warranty period to get over and then shirking off their responsibility. We have handed over a list of 61 buses with details of its chassis numbers, etc," he alleged.

The letter to the company states that "Breaking of the hub of the vehicle on the road is very serious, and braking issues in terms of road safety are very serious. It seems that your company has not taken this matter seriously, even though we have taken this issue frequently, speaking orally, in person, over the phone, and in writing from time to time. The above model manufactured by your company has been proved completely defective and not road worthy."

"As per provisions of Section 110 of the Motor Vehicles Act read with Rule 127 (a to d) of Central Motor Vehicles Rules 1989, there is a provision to recall the motor vehicles manufactured by the company found to be defective and it has been reported to your company. The individual bus owners have made separate complaints to the association and on behalf of all members we are putting this serious issue before the company. It is quite surprising that the Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) did not inspect the basic items while giving approval of this model," it adds.

mid-day tried to reach out to the corporate communications team of Ashok Leyland to get their version of the story via email, phone calls and WhatsApp since Monday, but there were no responses to the query for two days.