The Government has taken note of recent fatal sleeper-bus fires on the 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. In the sleeper coach fire on the Jaisalmer to Jodhpur route, observations included that the bus length was beyond the permissible limit, emergency doors did not meet 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 was provided with a ladder, a driver cabin partition was present, and a Fire Detection & Suppression System was not fitted as per requirements of Central Motor vehicle Rules (CMVR) 1989. Modifications should have been detected at the time of vehicle certification by local transport officers of the State Government. As of February 6th, 2026, the total number of registered sleeper coaches is 49,616, and a total of 886 bus body builders have been accredited so far. In the sleeper coach fire incident on the Kurnool – Bengaluru route, the registration certificate of the bus indicated “Seating capacity” only. This information was given by the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin Jairam Gadkari Ji in a written reply to the Rajya Sabha. The release ID is 2226650 and the visitor counter is 106.
Key Entities Referenced
Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989: Regulations related to motor vehicle safety and standards.
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways: Union ministry responsible for road transport policy and regulations.
Jaisalmer to Jodhpur route: Bus route where sleeper coach fires were noted.
Kurnool to Bengaluru route: Bus route where sleeper coach fires were noted.
AIS:052 and AIS:119: Automotive Industry Standards related to bus safety.
Ministry of Road Transport & Highways
SAFETY STANDARDS IN BUSES AND FIRE
INCIDENTS
Posted On: 11 FEB 2026 8:16PM by PIB Delhi
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.
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.
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.
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.
This information was given by the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Shri Nitin
Jairam Gadkari Ji in written reply to the Rajya Sabha.
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GDH/HJ
(Release ID: 2226650) Visitor Counter : 106
Read this release in: Telugu