PRESS RELEASE ON 392nd REPORT OF THE DEPARTMENT-RELATED PARLIAMENTARY STANDING COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORT, TOURISM AND CULTURE

The 392nd Report of the Department-related Parliamentary Standing Committee on Transport, Tourism and Culture, presented on August 11, 2026, marks a watershed moment in India's public transport policy landscape. Chaired by Rajya Sabha MP Sanjay Kumar Jha, this comprehensive report titled 'Enabling Inclusive, Digital and Sustainable Bus Transport' addresses systemic gaps that have plagued India's bus sector for decades. The committee's adoption of the report on August 6, 2026, followed extensive deliberations on the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways' (MoRTH) functioning, reflecting Parliament's growing recognition that buses — carrying over 60% of India's motorized passenger traffic — remain the backbone of mobility for the common citizen, yet suffer from policy neglect, regulatory fragmentation, and chronic underinvestment. Historically, India's bus transport has been governed by a patchwork of state-level Motor Vehicles Act implementations, with the Centre's role limited to setting broad standards under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (amended significantly in 2019). The 2019 amendment introduced provisions for a National Transportation Policy, electronic enforcement, and aggregator guidelines, but implementation remained uneven across states. The Committee's report now pushes for structural reforms that go beyond the 2019 Amendment's scope. Notably, the recommendation to replace the All India Tourist Permit with an All India Passenger Permit issued by the state of first registration — enforced through electronic correlation of VAHAN (vehicle registration database), FASTag (electronic toll collection), and vehicle location data — directly addresses the constitutional complexity under Article 246 and Seventh Schedule, where 'motor vehicles' fall under the Concurrent List (Entry 35), while 'roads' are primarily a State subject (Entry 13, State List). This creates a federal tension the Committee seeks to resolve through technology-driven cooperative federalism. The proposal for a National Bus Terminals Authority on the Airports Authority of India (AAI) model is particularly significant. Currently, bus terminals are owned and operated by state transport undertakings (STUs) or municipal bodies, leading to monopolistic practices, poor maintenance, and exclusion of private operators. The AAI model — established under the Airports Authority of India Act, 1994 — separates infrastructure ownership from service provision, enabling non-discriminatory access. The Committee's reference to the Kashmere Gate template (Delhi's inter-state bus terminal) and pursuit of Gurugram and Katra as pilots suggests a phased approach. This aligns with the National Infrastructure Pipeline (NIP) and PM Gati Shakti framework, which emphasize multimodal integration. The digital pillar — National Bus Digital Grid — draws inspiration from Indian Railways' digital architecture (like the NTES and RailYatri systems) and the cVIGIL citizen vigilance app used in elections. Mandating interoperability standards within one year, unified booking, live tracking, and GIS-based network atlases with punctuality metrics represents a leap toward 'Digital Public Infrastructure' (DPI) for transport, akin to UPI for payments. The requirement for commercial permit holders to participate makes this enforceable, not voluntary. On fleet transition, the 'scrap-and-lease' model at registered vehicle scrapping facilities (under the Vehicle Scrapping Policy, 2021) combined with bulk procurement of electric buses on standard terms addresses the high upfront capital barrier for STUs and private operators. The target for each operator and regional manufacturing clusters echoes the FAME-II scheme and Production Linked Incentive (PLI) for Advanced Chemistry Cell batteries, but with a service-oriented rather than supply-side focus. The gender-inclusive recommendations — dedicated peak-hour services operated by women drivers and staff, CCTV in new buses, on-board toilet standardization under the Bus Body Code (AIS-052/AIS-153), and an Inclusive Transport Fund — respond to Supreme Court directives on women's safety (Nirbhaya case aftermath) and the Constitutional mandate under Article 15(3) for special provisions for women. Currently, only 16 states have functional emergency alert systems; the Committee demands nationwide completion within one year. Fiscally, the demand for a 'budgetary identity for the bus passenger' — specifically, a defined provision for public transport infrastructure within MoRTH's budget, with the Ministry's position on applying ~25% of road allocation to it — is a direct challenge to the historical bias toward highway capital expenditure over public transport operations. This resonates with the 15th Finance Commission's emphasis on urban mobility and the National Urban Transport Policy (2014, revised 2023). Viability gap funding (VGF) for conforming terminals and testing stations, plus MPLADS circulation of standard bus stops, operationalizes this. The annual State Ranking on bus transport facilitation — with verifiable parameters from testing density to terminal access, emergency system functionality, punctuality metrics, and citizen vigilance report disposal — introduces competitive federalism into a sector long devoid of accountability. The first edition's mandate to disclose states still operating border check posts (persisting in six states despite GST and e-way bill integration) names and shames regulatory anachronisms. Finally, 'Count the Passenger' — reconciling fleet figures, integrating Telangana into VAHAN, a consolidated all-category bus statement, a federated national data architecture, and periodic authoritative passenger estimates — addresses the statistical vacuum that has made evidence-based planning impossible. This mirrors the National Statistical Office's (NSO) role in other sectors. Future implications are profound: if implemented, this report could restructure India's bus sector from a fragmented, state-centric, operator-dominated system into an integrated, digitally enabled, passenger-centric mobility network. It positions buses as the core of 'Next-Gen Mobility' — inclusive, digital, sustainable — and sets a template for parliamentary oversight of infrastructure sectors. For UPSC aspirants, this report is a living case study in cooperative federalism, regulatory reform, digital public infrastructure, gender-responsive budgeting, and legislative-executive accountability.