Overview
- West Bengal presented a draft to the Calcutta High Court allowing stage‑carriage buses registered in the Kolkata Metropolitan Area to operate beyond 15 years if they pass checks every six months.
- Justice Rai Chattopadhyay disposed of a 2024 petition by private bus owners and granted the state liberty to publish the draft notification.
- The draft specifies that certificates of fitness will be issued only when emission levels remain below the maximum permissible limit.
- The change applies to KMA stage‑carriage buses, and practical implementation depends on the government formally publishing and enforcing the notification.
- Bus operators welcomed the move, citing an ability to renew fitness, pollution and permit documents, and pointing to a long decline in the KMA fleet from about 12,000 before 2009 to roughly 3,000 by late 2025.