Thiruvananthapuram: Motor vehicle department has sought a legal opinion from the law department on contract carriers operating as stage carriers and interstate services without a licence for agents for passenger transport (LAPT) as there was no clarity in the law.
The MVD during the raids codenamed Operation Night Riders had taken 1,613 vehicles into custody to curb illegal transporters in the wake of an incident in which Kallada Travels staff maltreated some passengers.
It also levied a fine of Rs 4.5 lakh on them and issued notices to 266 travel agents who sold tickets for contract carriers operating without LAPT.
Though contract carriage laws say there should not be any ticket booking, some agencies sell tickets on the Internet or through mobile apps even without LAPT licence, which is illegal.
However, cyber laws govern issues related to Internet offences, including the online ticketing of operators without LAPT misusing these loopholes.
The MVD had issued circular containing guidelines for LAPT aimed at preventing inter-state private bus services violating rules, but the reality was that most of are unlicensed.
