Nikhil Buses Limited Given 30-day Notice

The people of the Navosa hinterland can expect improved bus services from Nikhil Buses Limited (NBL), which operates in the area.

This is after the Land Transport Authority (LTA) issued a 30-day notice to the company to comply with the conditions of its Road Route Licence (RRL) or face an automatic suspension of its operating licence.

LTA chief executive officer Samuel Simpson said notice took into account the bus company’s failure to improve services.

“Complaints were received by LTA from members of the public in Sigatoka routes on Nikhil Buses Limited failing to provide satisfactory level of bus services in accordance with their licence,” he said.

Mr Simpson added that Nikhil Buses Limited was called in for Show Cause before the LTA two times earlier this year to improve on its service delivery.

“The bus company failed to improve its services as expected, thus the issuance of this 30-day notice,” he said.

NBL Managing Director Deo Narayan said the company had started to comply with the notice and would get all its buses on the routes once again.

He said the company was struggling to earn an income and faced other problems.

These included:

- Poor roads and repairs not done on time;

- Competition from Rural Service Licence (RSL) vehicles on the routes; and

- A lot of illegal vehicles operating on the routes.

“This has affected the company and its source of income,” he added.

“We had new buses, maintenance costs are high and there was no progress. We spoke to LTA on the issues. We will comply with the notices.”

NBL started operations in December 2011 providing services along the Sigatoka Valley Road, including more routes via the East- West riverbanks in Nadroga/Navosa province.

Edited by Epineri Vula

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