Court gives more time to Blueline bus operators

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The Blueline bus operators Monday approached the court asking for more time against the government's notice.

The bus operator association submitted before Justice S. Muralidhar that the government has not followed the proper procedure for sending notices.

According to the operators, the government should have given 30-day notice but has given only 10 days.

"We know the history of Blueline buses. But the government will not take any coercive action till Feb 19," the judge said.

Defending the notification dated Jan 29, the government stated that Blueline buses that are more than 10 years old as in June this year will not be allowed to ply on the capital's roads.

About 264 buses which fall under this category will be removed from Delhi roads.

According to government, when the phase-out from south Delhi starts, operators running buses which are less than 10 years old will be given some of the routes on which the older, phased-out buses were operating.

The allocation will reportedly happen on a first come first serve basis. The shortfall, if any, will be met with the new low-floor DTC buses which are augmenting the fleet every month now.