Direct private buses to have public address system: Karnataka HC to govt

The high court on Thursday asked the state government to issue necessary circulars to ensure facilities, including audio announcements for the benefit of persons with disabilities traveling in private transport buses.  

A division bench comprising Chief Justice Prasanna B Varale and Justice Krishna S Dixit gave this direction while hearing a PIL.

The petitioner N Shreyas, a resident of Bengaluru who also runs a NGO called Shreyas Global Trust for Social Cause, had highlighted the abrupt stoppage/discontinuity in the audio announcement system in KSRTC and BMTC buses.

The bench noted that though the petition aims at public transport system under BMTC and the KSRTC, extending similar facilities in the buses operated by other private operators is required. 

“The private operators would certainly adopt a fair and reasonable approach. Accordingly, we expect a positive step from the state government so that on its own it may issue necessary circulars to all these private operators to provide such facilities, including making them condition precedent for those operators who are plying buses on the specified routes,” the bench said. The court has asked the state government to submit before it the steps taken by way of an additional affidavit on the next date of hearing.

During the hearing, the petitioner informed the court the application (App) already introduced in the government-run transport corporations. He sought for directions to make them user friendly for physically challenged by introducing Web contained accessibility guidelines (WCAG) and other guidelines.

The bench permitted the petitioner to submit representation giving all such details to both KSRTC and BMTC within one week and said that the corporations can take appropriate decision on this representation and may take necessary steps.

The petitioner, who is a visually impaired person, had stated that transport corporations initially had the facility of audio announcement, helping the physically/visually challenged persons to know the stops and destinations.