PUTRAJAYA: A total of 37 stage bus operators have received subsidy assistance worth a total of RM169.87mil under the Interim Stage Bus Support Fund (ISBSF) in 2023.
Transport Minister Anthony Loke said a total of 26 companies had secured three-year contracts, while 11 companies received one-year contracts.
"Not all companies get a three-year contract. Only those who achieve a performance of 70% and above from 2021 to 2022 will get a three-year deal," he said at the signing of the ISBSF 2023 agreement here on Thursday (April 13).
The ISBSF was introduced in 2012 to help stage bus operators cover daily operating costs, especially routes in rural areas, and continue services on less-profitable routes with government subsidies.
From 2012 to 2022, Loke said the Government had allocated more than RM1bil to provide subsidies to the operators involved.
Loke said the government had improved the ISBSF 2023 agreement contract where operators have to comply with several things including punctuality and the use cashless payment systems.
"Operators need to adhere to punctuality of at least 80% of trips carried out every day. If they fail to reach 80% (punctuality) for any route, the government will not pay subsidies to the operator for all routes," he said.
He said stage bus operators must ensure the installation of cashless payment systems to qualify for the ISBSF subsidies as the government would make this mandatory.
"Operators will be paid a maximum cost of RM450 per month for each vehicle installed with a cashless system to ensure that there is no further leakage in fare collection," he said.
He said the government would not hesitate to cancel the contract if there are bus operators who fail to achieve the desired performance, which would be monitored by the Land Public Transport Agency (Apad) through a centralised monitoring system. – Bernama
