VADODARA: The standing committee of Vadodara Municipal Corporation (VMC) has decided to call fresh tenders for the city bus service. The contract of the present operator expires next month.

The standing committee took the decision after detailed deliberations over the issue. The matter was brought to the committee last month, but an embargo over the premium paid by the operator, Vitcos Pvt Ltd, as well as debate over whether the same operator should be given an extension without tendering had led to the delay in arriving at a decision.

The proposal before the standing committee had stated that the service provider Vitcos Pvt Ltd should be allowed to continue with the service with a premium of Rs 19.61 lakh per annum against the Rs 18.55 lakh premium it paid since May 2008 when it began operations. At the other end, the service provider had recently stated that it was finding the operations a financial burden and the premium should be done away with. It had also raised a series of demands like providing it with a space for a depot, allowing it to operate diesel buses etc.

Some functionaries in the VMC also raised issues regarding the city bus service particularly the fact that it was not operating on all the routes that it had promised to ply buses on. Other issues were also raised regarding the operations of the service. The VMC opposition too had objected to the bus operator being given an extension without tendering. On Friday, the standing committee sent back the proposal for extension and sought fresh bids.