The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) on Friday filed a writ petition before the Kerala High Court challenging the All India Tourist Vehicles (Permit) Rules, 2023 allowing vehicles with All India tourist permit to operate as stage carriages.
The KSRTC also sought a directive to the Transport Commissioner to take appropriate steps against the operation of all India tourist permit vehicles through nationalised routes/sector and other notified routes.
The petition pointed out that as per rules, passengers travelling in a tourist vehicle with an all India tourist permit could board from various locations and have diverse destinations. The rule, in fact, implied that a shared purpose and destination were not mandatory unlike the stage carriage operators. It argued that the rules were manifestly inconsistent with the definition of ‘contract carriage’ and ‘tourist vehicle’ as stated in the Motor Vehicles Act and violative of the law laid down by the Supreme Court in a number of cases. The rules also went against the very definition of the ‘tourist vehicle’. As per the Act, only a contract carriage could be operated as a tourist vehicle.
