With over 1,00,000 small vans transporting school students in Maharashtra being 'unauthorised', the state government has proposed to amend its motor vehicle rules by recognising small vehicles with a capacity of up to 12 passengers as 'school vans'.
The transport department last week issued a notification defining school buses and school vans as per the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles (Regulation for School Buses) Rules, 2011.
According to the draft, buses are vehicles that carry more than 13 passengers while vans carry less than 12 passengers. Earlier, the seating capacity fixed by the government was 6 students.
“By amending these rules, we want to strictly regulate vans carrying school students,” said a transport department official.
He further said, “A legal school van will have a colour code that says ‘school van’. They will not be allowed to carry passengers other than students. They will also have to follow the safety rules applicable to buses, such as having aluminium screens on windows and first aid boxes and not carrying more students than the van’s seating capacity.”
In 2020, the Bombay High Court had allowed vans with a seating capacity of six, but had banned the transport of school children in ‘soft top’ rickshaws.
The legality of the vans was questioned after the 2019 amendment to the Central Motor Vehicle Rules. While the court case is still ongoing, the state government has changed the rules for school vans.
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