The Transport department’s decision to allow the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) to operate buses that are more than 15 years old till September 2024 has drawn flak as Central government rules require these buses to be scrapped.
This comes close on the heels of a government order that permitted raising the life span of KSRTC’s superfast buses from five years to seven years and later to 10 years, citing shortage of buses. It has also cast doubts on whether insurance companies will pay compensation in case of accidents involving the buses whose registration expired on March 31.
The KSRTC had submitted before the Transport department that the withdrawal of these buses, along with tanker trucks and mobile workshop vans that are older than 15 years, will hamper the transport utility’s daily operations. It also alleged that the Central government norms were ‘discriminatory’, since the 15-year rule was mandatory only for government vehicles.
The KSRTC’s 237 buses, 105 workshop vans, six tanker lorries and 36 other vehicles have completed 15 years of service.
Insurance issue
Retired Senior Deputy Transport Commissioner B.J. Antony cited how private buses that operated with stage-carriage permit were allowed to operate for 20 years, considering that their daily trips were limited to approximately 250 km, unlike KSRTC buses that operated double the distance, with crew being deployed in multiple shifts.
“The Central rules/directives will prevail, with the result that insurance companies will deny compensation for accidents involving KSRTC buses that are over 15 years old. Moreover, safety of members of the public is at stake, since old buses and slack maintenance are a safety hazard and would have inferior ride quality. Moreover, the Chairman and Managing Director of the KSRTC who placed the request for extension of service of 15-year-old vehicles and the Transport Secretary who permitted it are one and the same person. This is conflict of interest,” he added.
The KSRTC’s CMD Biju Prabhakar said the Centre’s directive to scrap 15-year-old buses of State transport undertakings (STU) is ‘coloured justice’, and contrary to natural justice principles, since 15-year-old private buses can continue operations if they produced fitness certificate issued by authorised automobile testing stations. “The 15-year rule could have been adhered to if the Centre had incentivised the purchase of new buses/vehicles to replace the old fleet. Our concerns in this regard have been conveyed to the Centre at a meeting of Transport Ministers held at New Delhi in April.”
He spoke of how over 1,500 buses of an STU of a neighbouring State were still in service even after completing 15 years. It is apparent that the government will compensate victims of accidents involving these buses. This would be done in Kerala as well.
Sources associated with the maintenance of KSRTC buses termed the move to extend the service of 15-year old buses as being contradictory to the decision taken in 2022 to scrap low-floor Volvo and non-AC buses of KSRTC that were less than 15 years old and procures under the JNNURM scheme. “Moreover, each of the buses, if properly maintained, could have operated up to 20 lakh km. They were scrapped halfway through their lifecycle.”
