Kerala HC's camera mandate breather for tour bus owners
THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The Motor Vehicle Department's (MVD) move to mandate CCTV cameras, including driver fatigue monitoring systems, has suffered a setback, with contract carriages securing a favourable court order to delay implementation by six months.
The High Court has directed the State Transport Authority (STA) to postpone enforcing the camera mandate until December 31, providing major relief to contract carriage operators. The court also directed that an order regarding this shall be issued within a month.
The STA had earlier instructed vehicle operators to install a driver fatigue monitoring system, along with two CCTV cameras—one inside and one outside the bus—as part of enhanced safety measures by the end of March. However, the Contract Carriage Operators Association (CCOA) challenged the directive in court.
'The driver fatigue cameras are not only costly but also hard to procure, with very few suppliers available. Complying with the rule within such a short time is impractical,' said CCOA president Binu John. He said that each system would cost around Rs 40,000.
Bus operators also opposed installing internal CCTV cameras, citing privacy concerns for groups hiring their services. 'Unlike stage carriages, contract carriages are booked by people known to each other, usually with a group leader.
In my 40 years of experience, I have not seen any major safety issues. Passengers often change clothes after visiting tourist spots, and women breastfeed inside the bus. Cameras would be an unnecessary intrusion into their privacy,' Binu added.
Meanwhile, the STA had also mandated the installation of cameras in stage carriages, citing safety reasons. Bus operators, however, objected to installing driver fatigue cameras, arguing that their services run only during daytime, making it a needless expense.
Postponed to Dec 31
State Transport Authority earlier directed to install a driver fatigue monitoring system, along with two CCTV cameras
It also mandated the installation of cameras in stage carriages
High Court has directed STA to postpone the mandate until December 31
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