Hyderabad: Cab agencies hit hard, seek sops from government

Hyderabad: A majority of travel agencies mainly in the segment of car rentals are facing the ignominy of closure. Many are selling their vehicles, as they are unable to pay EMIs. According to rough estimates, 20 per cent of owners have either shut shop or are in the process.

Syed Nizamuddin, the president of Telangana Travel Agents Association and owner of Nizam Cabs, said, "From March 15, 2020 the RTA department has stopped issuing permits for vehicles to go to various destinations.

We approached the Principal Secretary with a request for exemption till September as the government said all the companies are likely to operate from September. Every vehicle has EMI, insurance, salaries and other expenses."

He adds further, "This industry is the one that pays huge tax per quarter and we request the government to waive taxes for two quarters. There are more than 800 travel owners in Telangana and around 250 of them in Hyderabad.

Compared to other states, we pay the highest advance road tax. Other states have given two to three months exemptions them."

The past months, from April to July which is considered to be the wedding season where people hire cars and busses, has been an off for the rental businesses too.

SM Jain, owner of 4wheel travels in Banjara Hills said, "We are a car rental and bus service business so at the beginning of the lockdown we faced huge loss as we dealt mainly with corporate offices which were closed.

At present, we don't even have 25 per cent business. If this number comes up till 40 per cent also in next few months it will be a big achievement. We have sold some of our old vehicles in order to get some cash to manage the fund flow for at least a couple of months.

We have more than 400 rental vehicles, out of which 80 per cent is in Hyderabad and rest in Bangalore, Chennai, Visakhapatnam and Mumbai. There is a quarterly road tax which all bus owners have to pay which the government is not waiving off the same.

This was supposed to be the wedding season. Earlier for weddings 50 to 100 vehicles use to go for a wedding now not even one," said.

Krishna, owner of Happy Journey Drivers, Amberpet that provides temporary and permanent drivers said, "Around 200 drivers are linked with this organization.

However, with no people hiring drivers to go out, it has become difficult for them to survive during this pandemic. Due to this, they are forced to search some small temporary jobs."

REMOVE ROADBLOCKS

• 250 travel owners in the city are on the brink of closing down business

• Demand waiver of quarterly tax to sustain operations

• RTA stops permits; cars are unused, drivers out of work

• Compared to other states, they claim to pay highest advance road tax

• Point out that other states have given two to three months exemptions