A TOTAL of 37 stage bus operators received subsidy assistance worth a total of RM169.87 million under the Interim Stage Bus Support Fund (ISBSF) this year.

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 will 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 for this new contract,” he said at the signing of the ISBSF 2023 agreement today.

The ISBSF was introduced in 2012 to help stage bus operators cover daily operating costs, especially in rural areas, and continue services on less profitable routes with government subsidies.

Loke said the government had allocated more than RM1 billion to provide subsidies to the operators involved from 2012 to 2022.

The minister said the government has improved the ISBSF 2023 agreement contract where operators have to comply with several requirements including punctuality and the use of a cashless payment system.

“Operators need to adhere to the punctuality of at least 80% of the trips carried out every day. If they fail to reach the 80% (punctuality) for any route, the government will not pay subsidy to the operator for all routes,” he said.

He said stage bus operators must ensure the installation of cashless payment system to qualify them for the ISBSF subsidies as the government would make the system 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 through a centralised monitoring system. – Bernama, April 13, 2023.