Executive Summary:
This document presents the Indian government's response to a parliamentary question regarding the accessibility of public buses for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs). It outlines measures taken by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH) to ensure accessibility, provides data on the number of accessible buses currently operational, and clarifies the roles of state governments in urban transport planning and accessibility. The data reflects the status as of June 2025.
Key Points / Main Content:
Accessibility Measures by MoRTH:
* MoRTH has issued regulations (GSR 959E, GSR 367E AIS:153, GSR 287E AIS:052) to ensure accessibility features in buses.
* These features include priority seats, signs, securing devices for crutches/canes/walkers, handrails, controls at priority seats, wheelchair entry/housing/locking arrangements, kneeling systems, and lifts or ramps.
* Renewal of fitness certificates for buses is mandated with accessibility features.
Operational Accessible Buses:
* A total of 145,527 buses are operational in the country.
* 51,604 buses (35.46%) are accessible, including 56 buses of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC).
* State-wise details of State Road Transport Undertakings (SRTUs) are provided in an annexure.
PMeBus Sewa Scheme:
* The PMeBus Sewa Tender specifies accessibility features and equipment as per AIS 052/AIS 153.
* This scheme aims to deploy 100% 12m/9m buses with accessibility features, including wheelchair accessibility.
State Government Responsibilities:
* Urban planning, including improving accessibility of public buses for PwDs, is a state subject.
* State governments are responsible for planning, operations, safety management, developing and implementing urban transport infrastructure.
* This includes providing staff training and conducting audits and inspections to assess compliance with accessibility norms.
Impact Analysis:
Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH):
* Impact: Acknowledged as the initiator of regulatory steps to ensure bus accessibility.
* Action Required: Continue to enforce and update accessibility regulations for buses.
State Governments:
* Impact: Responsible for urban transport planning, operations, and infrastructure development, including bus accessibility for PwDs.
* Action Required: Plan, implement, and oversee urban transport infrastructure, provide staff training, and conduct audits to ensure compliance with accessibility norms.
State Road Transport Undertakings (SRTUs):
* Impact: Operators of bus fleets, required to provide accessible buses and services.
* Action Required: Implement accessibility features in buses, provide training to staff, and ensure compliance with accessibility norms.
Persons with Disabilities (PwDs):
* Impact: Intended beneficiaries of the accessibility measures.
* Action Required: Utilize the accessible bus services and report any issues or concerns regarding accessibility to the relevant authorities.
Key Entities Referenced
Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs: A ministry within the Government of India responsible for housing and urban development.
Persons with Disabilities PwDs: Refers to individuals with disabilities, a key focus of the policy regarding accessible public transportation.
Ministry of Road, Transport and Highways MoRTH: A ministry responsible for the development and regulation of road transport in India, which provided information related to bus accessibility standards.
Andhra Pradesh: A state in India, specifically mentioned in the context of the number of accessible buses operational.
Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation APSRTC: The state-owned road transport corporation of Andhra Pradesh, with a specific number of accessible buses.
PMeBus Sewa Scheme: A scheme aimed at deploying buses with accessibility features, including wheelchair accessibility.
Accessible India Campaign: A national campaign focused on enhancing accessibility for persons with disabilities across various sectors, including transportation.
Association of Road Transport Undertakings: An association that provided data on the number of operational buses in India.
GOVERNMENT OF INDIA
MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS
LOK SABHA
UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1883
TO BE ANSWERED ON JULY 31, 2025
ACCESSIBILITY OF PUBLIC BUSES FOR PWDS
NO. 1883. SHRI LAVU SRI KRISHNA DEVARAYALU:
Will the Minister of HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS be pleased to
state:
a) whether the Government has taken special measures for improving
accessibility to public buses for Persons with Disabilities (PwDs)
and if so, the details thereof including low-floor design, ramp access,
priority seating and announcement systems;
(b) the number and percentage of accessible buses currently
operational in the country, State/UT-wise, especially in Andhra
Pradesh;
(c) whether public transport staff including drivers and conductors are
provided training to assist PwD commuters and if so, the details
thereof; and
(d) whether any audits or inspections have been conducted to assess
compliance with accessibility norms in urban bus fleets and if so,
the details thereof?
ANSWER
THE MINISTER OF STATE IN THE
MINISTRY OF HOUSING AND URBAN AFFAIRS
(SHRI TOKHAN SAHU)
(a) & (b) As per the information received from Ministry of Road,
Transport and Highways (MoRTH), to ensure accessibility in buses,
MoRTH Vide GSR 959(E), GSR 367(E) {AIS:153}, GSR 287(E) {AIS:052}, have
taken various regulatory steps that inter-alia ensures for providing various
accessibility features such as Priority Seat, Signs, securing of
crutches/canes/walkers, Hand rail/stanchions, control at priority seats,
wheel chair entry/housing/locking arrangement for wheel chair in buses,
provision for kneeling system, lift or ramp as well as mandating the
renewal of fitness certificate with accessibility features.
…2/--2-
As per the information received from MoRTH and Association of Road
Transport Undertakings, a total no. of 1,45,527 buses are operational out
of which 51,604 buses including 56 buses of Andhra Pradesh State Road
Transport Corporation (APSRTC) are accessible i.e. 35.46% buses are
accessible. The State wise (STUs) details are provided in Annexure.
Also, under the PM-eBus Sewa Scheme of this Ministry, to address the
issue of accessibility, PM-eBus Sewa Tender specifies accessibility
features and equipment as per AIS 052 & AIS 153 so as to deploy 100%
12 m & 9 m buses with accessibility features including wheelchair
accessibility.
(c) & (d) ‘Urban planning’ is a State subject. Therefore, the respective
State Governments are responsible for planning, operations, safety
management, developing and implementing urban transport
infrastructure including improving accessibility of public buses for
Persons with Disabilities (PwDs), providing training of Staff, conducting
audit and inspection.
*****ANNEXURE
Status of buses held by SRTUs for Accessible India Campaign for June, 2025
SL. NAME OF FLEET Intercity Urban
NO THE STU HELD Inter Fully Accessi Not Urban Fully Accessi Not
(Vehicl city Accessi ble Accessi Operati Accessi ble Accessi
es in operatio ble ble onal ble ble
Operati nal fleet with Fleet with
on) wheel wheel
chair chair
1 Agra- 230 0 0 0 0 230 230 0 0
Mathura
Tpt.
Services
Ltd.
2 Ahmedaba 804 0 0 0 0 804 277 0 527
d
Municipal
Transport
Service
3 Allahabad 127 0 0 0 0 127 127 0 0
City Tpt.
Services
Ltd.4 Andaman 282 202 0 202 0 80 0 80 0
& Nicobar
Administr
ation
5 APSRTC 10796 9777 0 0 9777 1019 0 56 963
6 Arunachal 255 255 0 0 255 0 0 0 0
Pradesh
State
Transport
Deptt.
7 Assam 505 347 20 3 324 158 0 4 154
STC
8 BEST 3672 0 0 0 0 3672 365 0 3307
Undertaki
ng
9 Bhubnesh 200 0 0 0 0 200 0 100 100
war-Puri
Tpt.
Services
Ltd.
(CURT)
10 Bihar 414 414 0 105 309 0 0 0 0
State
Road
TransportCorporatio
n
11 BMTC 6664 0 0 0 0 6664 1126 5538 0
12 Chandigar 587 229 0 0 229 358 298 0 60
h
Transport
Undertaki
ng
13 DIMTS- 3021 0 0 0 0 3021 2488 0 533
Cluster
Bus
Operation
in Delhi
14 DIMTS- 200 0 0 0 0 200 200 0 0
Gurugram
Metropolit
an City
Bus
Limited
(GMCBL)
15 DIMTS- 20 0 0 0 0 20 20 0 0
Haryana
City Bus
Services
Ltd.(HCBS
L)16 DTC 4409 0 0 0 0 4409 4409 0 0
17 GSRTC 8006 5412 0 95 5317 2594 0 1905 689
18 Himachal 3000 3000 0 85 2915 0 0 0 0
Road
Transport
Corporatio
n
19 J & K 570 512 0 0 512 58 0 0 58
State
Road
Transport
Corporatio
n
20 Jaipur 200 77 46 31 0 123 54 69 0
City TSL
21 Kadamba 475 475 1 81 393 0 0 0 0
TCL
22 Kalyan 90 8 0 4 4 82 0 66 16
Dombivli
Municipal
Tpt.
Undertaki
ng
23 Kanpur 270 0 0 0 0 270 270 0 0
City Tpt.Sevices
Ltd.
24 KAR SRTC 8052 6266 0 0 6266 1786 0 101 1685
25 Kerala 5625 2122 173 0 1949 3503 0 289 3214
State
Road
Transport
Corporatio
n
26 Kerala 719 399 110 289 0 320 80 240 0
Urban
Road Tpt.
Corpn.
[A
subsidiary
of Kerala
SRTC]
27 Kohlapur 135 0 0 0 0 135 0 75 60
Munipal
Transport
28 Lucknow 260 0 0 0 0 260 260 0 0
City
Services
Ltd.
29 Meerut 120 0 0 0 0 120 120 0 0
City Tpt.Services
Ltd.
30 Meghalay 62 62 0 0 62 0 0 0 0
a
transport
Corporatio
n
31 Mizoram 40 40 0 0 40 0 0 0 0
State
Transport
32 MSRTC 17900 17564 0 8000 9564 336 0 336 0
33 MTC-Ch 3233 0 0 0 0 3233 0 2500 733
34 Nagaland 150 0 0 0 0 150 0 19 131
State
Transport
35 NB STC 965 937 0 0 937 28 0 28 0
36 NEKRTC 4714 4195 0 0 4195 519 265 0 254
37 NMMT 531 0 0 0 0 531 246 0 285
38 NWKRTC 5096 4551 0 1011 3540 545 100 160 285
39 OSRTC 436 436 0 0 436 0 0 0 0
40 Pepsu 1045 1045 0 20 1025 0 0 0 0
Road
Transport
Corporatio
n41 Puducherr 110 0 0 0 0 110 10 0 100
y Road
Transport
Corporatio
n
42 Pune 1894 0 0 0 0 1894 0 1481 413
Mahanaga
r
Parivahan
Mahaman
dal Ltd.
43 Punjab 1116 1116 0 0 1116 0 0 0 0
State Bus
Stand
Managem
ent Co.
44 RSRTC 4878 4878 0 0 4878 0 0 0 0
45 SETC 1064 1064 0 815 249 0 0 0 0
46 Sholapur 44 0 0 0 0 44 0 35 9
MTU
47 Sikkim 85 85 6 0 79 0 0 0 0
Nationaliz
ed
Transport48 South 661 661 0 0 661 0 0 0 0
Bengal
State
Transport
Corporatio
n
49 ST 3630 3630 0 0 3630 0 0 0 0
HARYANA
50 State 646 646 0 0 646 0 0 0 0
Transport
Punjab
51 Telangana 9691 6790 0 0 6790 2901 0 122 2779
State
Road Tpt.
Corpn
52 Thane 448 0 0 0 0 448 0 140 308
MTU
53 TN-CBE 2559 1171 0 0 1171 1388 0 0 1388
54 TN-KUMB 3471 2186 0 2186 0 1285 0 1285 0
55 TN-MDU 2369 1099 0 0 1099 1270 0 0 1270
56 TN-SALEM 2131 1294 0 860 434 837 0 0 83757 TN-TNV 1762 1064 0 354 710 698 0 52 646
58 TN-VPM 3373 2289 0 1140 1149 1084 0 0 1084
59 Tripura 63 63 0 0 63 0 0 0 0
Road
Transport
Corporatio
n
60 U.P. State 9487 9487 0 9487 0 0 0 0 0
Road
Transport
Corporatio
n
61 Uttarakha 1225 1225 0 0 1225 0 0 0 0
nd
Transport
Corporatio
n
62 Varanasi 130 0 0 0 0 130 130 0 0
City Tpt.
Sevices
Ltd.
63 West 810 92 0 92 0 718 0 632 86
Bengal
TCL
Total 145527 97165 356 24860 71949 48362 11075 15313 21974SUMMARY
SI.No. Nos. of Buses held by STUS Total Nos. of Total %age of
Nos of accessible/Fully access-
buses accessible buses ibility
1 Intercity Operations 97165 24860*+356** 25216 26%
2 Urban Operations 48362 15313*+11075** 26388 55%
3 Total 145527 40173*+11431** 51604 35.46%
Note : *Accessible without wheelchair accessibility, **Fully accessible having wheel chair
accessibility