MV Act | Private Bus Operators Cannot Ply On Inter-State Routes Overlapping With Notified State Transport Routes: Supreme Court

The Supreme Court has held that private operators cannot be granted stage-carriage permits on inter-State routes under reciprocal transport agreements if any portion of those routes overlaps a notified intra-State route reserved for State transport undertakings under Chapter VI of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988.

A Bench of Justice Dipankar Datta and Justice Augustine George Masih set aside the order of the Gwalior Bench of the Madhya Pradesh High Court, which had directed recognition of permits granted to Madhya Pradesh's private bus operators under the Inter-State Reciprocal Transport (IS-RT) Agreement between the Transport Departments of Madhya Pradesh and Uttar Pradesh, for the routes which overlaps with routes exclusively operated by UP State Road Transport Corporation.

The legal b