Archive · 31 Aug 2026
Bengal Bus Operators Seek Review of 15-Year Scrapping Rule
Bus operators in West Bengal are asking officials to change a rule about old buses.
The rule says commercial vehicles more than 15 years old may not operate in the Kolkata area.
The operators say some older buses are still safe and produce pollution within allowed limits.
They want these buses to be tested every six months instead of automatically scrapped.
They also suggest improving engines and using better-quality fuel.
The operators say completely replacing the buses would cost owners a lot of money.
They also say many workers and their families depend on these buses for their income.
Officials and the courts must consider the pollution goal as well as the economic effects.
Private bus operators in West Bengal urged the government and judiciary to reconsider scrapping commercial vehicles older than 15 years.
They want buses meeting pollution and fitness standards to continue operating in Kolkata and the Kolkata Metropolitan Area.
Operators proposed engine replacement or upgrades, stricter emissions testing, and better-quality fuel instead of blanket scrapping.
The Calcutta High Court’s 2009 directive barred commercial vehicles older than 15 years from the KMA, while a report says conditional relief was granted in November 2025.
The operators said about 2,500 private buses operate in Kolkata and nearby areas and warned of financial effects on owners, workers, and families.
- Who
- The Joint Council of Bus Syndicate, representing private bus operators in West Bengal, made the request.
- What
- The operators urged a review of the policy requiring commercial vehicles older than 15 years to be scrapped or kept off the roads.
- When
- The request was reported on Monday, August 31; the reports also refer to a 2009 court directive and conditional relief granted in November 2025.
- Where
- Kolkata and the Kolkata Metropolitan Area in West Bengal.
- Why
- The operators say buses that meet pollution and fitness standards should not be scrapped solely because of their age, and that blanket scrapping would impose financial hardship.
Bus Operators’ Position
Scrapping Policy’s Pollution Objective
Age versus emissions
Bus Operators’ Position
Buses should be allowed to operate if they meet prescribed pollution and fitness standards, regardless of being more than 15 years old.
Scrapping Policy’s Pollution Objective
The existing age-based restriction is part of efforts to address vehicular pollution in Kolkata and the KMA.
How to reduce pollution
Bus Operators’ Position
Stricter emission tests, better-quality or more-refined diesel, engine upgrades, and increased green cover could address pollution without scrapping every older bus.
Scrapping Policy’s Pollution Objective
The reports describe the 15-year scrapping policy as a pollution-control measure, though they do not provide a separate statement from government or court officials defending blanket scrapping.
Economic impact
Bus Operators’ Position
Operators argue that scrapping older buses would place a heavy financial burden on owners and affect workers and their families.
Scrapping Policy’s Pollution Objective
The pollution-free-society objective may require restrictions on older commercial vehicles; the reports do not specify the government’s response to the operators’ economic concerns.
- Operators’ body
- Joint Council of Bus Syndicate
- Vehicle-age rule
- The Calcutta High Court directed in 2009 that commercial vehicles older than 15 years could not operate in the KMA from August 1, 2009.
- Reported court relief
- A report says the Calcutta High Court granted conditional relief in November 2025 for 15-year-old stage carriage buses that pass biannual fitness and pollution tests.
- Estimated private buses
- About 2,500 private buses operate in Kolkata and neighbouring areas.
- Proposed alternative
- Replace or upgrade engines and conduct stricter, twice-yearly pollution and fitness testing.
- Pollution measures proposed
- Further-refined diesel, better-quality fuel, stricter emission testing, and increased green cover.
- Economic concern
- Operators said thousands of bus owners and workers, along with their families, depend on the transport sector.
