Parliament Question: Safety standards in buses and fire incidents

GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS RAJYA SABHA UNSTARRED QUESTION NO. 1365 ANSWERED ON - 11/02/2026 SAFETY STANDARDS IN BUSES AND FIRE INCIDENTS 1365. SHRI MOHAMMED NADIMUL HAQUE: Will the Minister of ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS be pleased to state: (a) whether Government has taken note of recent fatal sleeper-bus fires; (b) the investigation findings, especially the buses’ compliance with AIS-119 and AIS-153 and the status of emergency exits, fire-safety systems and required equipment; (c) the total number of sleeper buses in operation and certified AIS-052 body builders; and (d) whether enforcement failures allowed illegal seat-to-sleeper conversions and use of flammable materials? ANSWER THE MINISTER OF ROAD TRANSPORT AND HIGHWAYS (SHRI NITIN JAIRAM GADKARI) (a) Yes Sir. The Government has taken note of recent fatal sleeper-bus fires on Jaisalmer to Jodhpur route and Kurnool to Bangaluru route. The Government has issued an advisory to all States/UTs for compliance with AIS:052 and AIS:119 at the time of registration and during fitness inspection as per Rule 62 of the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989. (b) In the sleeper coach fire on Jaisalmer to Jodhpur route, it has been observed that Bus length was beyond the permissible limit, emergency doors do not meet the minimum dimensional requirements, passenger seats obstructed the passage to the emergency door, only one roof hatch was provided instead of two roof hatches, roof luggage carrier provided with ladder, driver cabin partition was present and Fire Detection & Suppression System was not fitted as per requirements of Central Motor vehicle Rules (CMVR) 1989. These modifications should have been detected at the time of vehicle certification by the local transport officers of the State Government. (c) The total number of registered sleeper coaches as on 6th February, 2026 is 49,616. A total of 886 bus body builders have been accredited so far. (d) In the sleeper coach fire incident on Kurnool – Bengaluru route, it has been observed that the registration certificate of the bus had indicated “Seating capacity” only. *****