Tourist Buses Not Allowed To Pick Up And Drop Off Passengers Like A Stage Carriage: Kerala High Court
The Kerala High Court held that tourist buses operating as contract carriages have a prior contract between the passenger or a group of passengers and the operator and they cannot pick up and drop off passengers enroute their journey when those passengers are not included in its prior contract.
Contract carriage vehicles operate for a hired/fixed amount under an express or implied contract with passengers to pick them up from one point and drop them off at their destination on a time basis. It does not stop to pick up or drop off passengers along the way. In contrast, Stage carriages, like KSRTC allow passengers to pay separate fares for the distances they travel. They can pick up and drop off passengers along their route and do not have a fixed payment arrangement like contract carriages.
Justice N Nagaresh observed tourist vehicles operating under the All India Tourist Permit must have the names and details of all passengers including their pick-up point and drop-off point in electronic or print form. It added that such a list should be prepared before the start of every journey.
“A Tourist Vehicle Operator does not have a right to stop the Vehicle to pick up or drop off passengers not included in the contract, enroute a journey. In other words, a Tourist Vehicle cannot run its service like a Stage Carriage.”
The Court was considering various writ petitions filed by tourist vehicle operators against penalty challans (circular dated June 06, 2023) issued against them for operating their tourist bus with all India Tourist Permits as stage carriers. They submit that they are covered under all India Tourist Permits and are not contract carriages.
A writ petition is also filed by KSRTC seeking to take action against All India Tourist Permit Vehicles through the Nationalised Routes and Scheme covered routes under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988. It was stated that the revenue of KSRTC is being affected. Certain other writ petitions were filed by stage carriage operators to ensure that tourist buses do not operate as stage carriages by transporting passengers on fares paid proportionate to the distance travelled by them.
They challenged Rule 6(2), Rule 10(1) and Rule 13(1) of All India Tourist Vehicles (Permit) Rules, 2023 that enable tourist buses with All India Tourist Permits to operate like stage carriages to pick up and drop off passengers with regular daily trips on specified routes.
The Court noted that Section 2 (7) of the Motor Vehicles Act defines contract carriage and Section 2 (40) defines stage carriage. On analysis of the terms, the Court stated that contract carriages can levy separate fares from individual passengers either for the whole journey or for stages of the journey, which means they can pick up and drop off passengers along their route. It further stated that contract carriage vehicles cannot pick up or drop off passengers not included in the contract anywhere during the journey.
The Court clarified thus, “The essential difference between a Stage Carriage and a Contract Carriage permit is that while a Stage Carriage run as a regular bus service for passengers where the entire route is split up in various “stages” till the destination point, in the case of a Contract Carriage, a route is defined from one destination to another destination. A Contract Carriage is not expected to run as a daily carriage service as it is based on a prior contract between an operator and a passenger/passengers to ply from one destination to another destination.”
The Court stated that stage carriage vehicles, like those operated by the KSRTC, are meant to help the general public who travel from one destination to another.
The Court further stated that a tourist vehicle remains a contract carriage vehicle and they do not get authority under All India Tourist Vehicles (Permit) Rules to operate as a stage carriage. Interpreting the terms tour, tourist etc, the Court noted that tourist vehicles are contract carriages.
The Court added that in contract carriage vehicles, passengers included in the contract can be picked up and dropped off along the journey, as long as all the passengers who are included in the contract have the same destination or purpose of journey.
“A Tourist Vehicle Operator cannot enter into multiple contracts with more than one person or Group of persons. The persons travelling should not only have the intention of travelling to the same destination but should also have the common purpose of travelling as well”, stated the Court.
As such, the Court dismissed the writ petitions filed by the tourist vehicle operators. The Court stated that the circular issued by the Transport Department is valid and cannot be set aside. It added that the actions taken by the Motor Vehicles Department such as intercepting and seizing vehicles and issuing penalty challans for violation of permit conditions are justified.
Case Number: WP(C) NO. 19537 OF 2023 & other cases
Case Title: Sarath G Nair & Other Cases
Citation: 2024 LiveLaw (Ker) 572