Kerala mulls law change to facilitiate standee bus passengers

The Kerala government is holding consultations with legal experts to change the law to allow passengers travel while standing in government buses, a Minister said on Friday.

"We have already consulted a few legal experts. We are speaking to more to see how best we can amend the laws in the wake of the Kerala High Court directive. We are exploring whether it is possible to allow passengers equivalent to 25 per cent of bus seating capacity to travel while standing. We are looking at various options," Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran told the media here.

A Division Bench of Chief Justice Antony Dominic, acting on a petition filed by a social organisation, on Tuesday said that as per the Motor Vehicle Act, passengers should not be allowed to travel while standing.

Kerala State Road Transport Corporation buses (KSRTC) staff unions have opposed the judgment since the corporation, with accumulated losses of Rs 7,966 crore, is finding it tough to pay salaries and pensions.

Earlier this month, 40,000 KSRTC pensioners got pensions after almost six months after the government pumped in the money.

--IANS

sg/tsb/vm