A stand-off between the Motor Vehicles department (MVD) and contract carriage bus operators over the All India Tourist Permit (AITP) hit a flash point on Monday with the MVD authorities seizing a bus of Robin Travels while operating a service to Coimbatore.
The service which began from Pathanamthitta at 5 a.m. was intercepted at Ranni by a battery of MVD officials en route. Citing violation of the MV Act 66 (1), they seized the bus and later shifted it to the Armed Reserve Police camp here.
A video footage of the episode, live-streamed through the official social media page of the bus operator, soon went viral and triggered a torrent of reactions as it was for the second time in two months that the service was being intercepted. Earlier last month, the MVD had cancelled the vehicle’s fitness certificate while operating on the same route.
To approach HC
Irked by the action, bus operator Baby Gireesh said he would soon approach the Kerala High Court seeking to invoke contempt of court action against the erring officials. “I resumed this service in view of a recent order by the Supreme Court permitting contract carriers to operate inter-State services,’’ he said.
He attributed the back-to-back action against the bus service to an attempt by the authorities to endorse the monopoly of K-SWIFT buses run by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation on long-distance routes.
The MVD officials, on the other hand, maintained that the Supreme Court order had nothing to do with the operation of regular passenger services. “The buses that have obtained AITP can operate trips only on the basis of a contract. Such services are not permitted to pick up and drop passengers from different points en route,’’ said A.K. Dilu, Regional Transport Officer, Pathanamthitta. Robin Travels, on the other hand, was attempting to operate the service like a stage carrier with stopovers at different points and also by displaying a trip board.
Misinterpreting norms
Holding that around 200 more private buses in Kerala are preparing to operate such services after procuring the AITP, the official said that the State government had decided to act against “unauthorised operations” by “misinterpreting” the revised national permit norms by the Centre.
To a query on how it was possible for many other operators to run inter-State services from Kerala, MVD sources said those services were being carried out “mostly” within the existing legal framework. “They do receive the seat bookings online but do not pick up or drop passengers mid-way. Although in-principle, they also fix a service contract and maintain the list of passengers,’’ said a top source.
