Punjab govt to issue 5,000 minibus permits by March: Transport minister

Punjab Transport Minister Razia Sultana on Friday said her department would complete the task of issuing 5,000 new minibus permits to the youth by March.

The transport department received about 12,000 applications for minibus permits and the process of issuing 5,000 permits would be completed by March, she said in a statement here.

Thereafter, the process to issue additional route permits for buses will start.

To detect the movement of buses and check ticket theft, she said it was proposed to install a vehicle tracking system in all buses. The fleet of Punjab Roadways, or Punbus, has already been equipped with the system and it will be installed in buses of Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) in the next six months, she said.

The minister further said 600 buses -- 350 for Punbus and the rest for Pepsu -- will be added to the state roadways' fleet this year.

As of now, Punbus has 1,611 buses and PRTC 1,121.