Hyderabad: School buses that do not have the fitness certificate are being seized by the Road Transport Authority (RTA), which is one part of the problem.
The other is that schools continue to take students in private vehicles such as vans, violating the Motor Vehicles Act, which mandates that only transport vehicles with yellow number plates can be used.
An additional problem is that the use of these private vehicles is also a loss to the state exchequer.
Most of the times although these vans have a limited seating capacity are carrying double than their limit, putting the children’s lives at risk.
Experts advise that parents should keep an eye and enquire with their child at home about how many students are being accommodated in the vehicle, to identify whether it is according to the seating capacity or not.
They should also check whether the vehicle is a transport vehicle or not.
Mr Shaikh Salaluddin from Four Wheelers Association said, “People with yellow number plates, pay heavy taxes to the government as they are considered as transport vehicles. But many schools are using white numbered plates or their private vehicles for transportation, without listing them as transport vehicles, in order to escape from taxation by the department. This is a huge loss to the state exchequer.”
When contacted, deputy transport commissioner K. Papa Rao, he said, “As long as vehicles with white number plates transport children to schools for free, then that is fine. However, if they do it as business and take money from parents and students, then it’s a punishable offence. Of late we have been receiving similar complaints, and if any such case comes to our notice, we will take necessary action.”
