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.
