The West Bengal Transport Department has reduced the recurring cost of fitness certification for private buses that are 15 years old or more, allowing operators to pay the main examination fee once a year even though the buses must continue to undergo inspections every six months.
Kolkata | September 9, 2026 — Under the new arrangement, private bus owners will pay the full fitness examination charge at the beginning of the year. When the vehicle returns for its second inspection six months later, no additional examination fee will be charged. Operators will only have to pay an inspection fee of about Rs 2,000, according to a report by Anandabazar.
The revised arrangement follows complaints from bus owners that the earlier system imposed a substantial financial burden on operators of older vehicles. Under that system, buses completing 15 years on the road had to undergo fitness examinations twice a year and pay for the certification process on both occasions. The annual cost was reported to be around Rs 12,000 for the two certification procedures.
The department’s decision has been taken with reference to guidelines issued by the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways, the report said. The revised process is intended to retain the twice-yearly health checks required for older passenger buses while reducing the fees payable during the second visit.
The issue has also been linked to legal proceedings before the Calcutta High Court. Around two years ago, a section of bus owners approached the court, arguing that the roadworthiness of buses, rather than their age alone, should determine whether vehicles that had completed 15 years could continue operating. After examining different aspects of the case, the court reportedly supported a conditional system in which the health of the vehicle remained the key criterion. For passenger buses, the arrangement included fitness examinations twice a year.
Uncertainty over the future of vehicles aged 15 years or more had slowed the process of renewing their operating permissions, according to the report. Bus owners subsequently said that the number of private buses on the roads had fallen because many operators could not afford the repeated certification costs.
Most private bus-owner organisations have welcomed the new directive. Titu Saha, general secretary of the City Suburban Bus Service, said the decision was welcome but suggested that fitness certification could be conducted once a year, with pollution-control certification carried out twice annually instead. Rahul Chattopadhyay, general secretary of the All Bengal Bus-Minibus Coordination Committee, also welcomed the move. Pradipnarayan Basu of the Bus Minibus Owners’ Association said it would provide relief to financially weaker operators.
Bus-owner organisations have raised a separate administrative demand concerning where inspections can be conducted. Under the current system, a vehicle must generally be examined at the regional transport office where it is registered. Several organisations are seeking a return to the earlier arrangement, under which a bus could reportedly be taken to any regional transport office for inspection. The latest directive does not remove that restriction, according to the report.
