Private bus operators threaten indefinite strike in Kerala

Private bus operators in Kerala on Sunday threatened to go on an indefinite strike over the financial impact of KSRTC’s Priyadarshini scheme, saying the recommendations of an expert committee appointed to address their concerns were insufficient.

Private bus operators are expressing concern that their businesses will be affected after the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) introduced the Priyadarshini scheme under which women can travel in regular category buses for free.

Following concerns raised by private bus operators, the state government appointed an expert committee to study their problems. The committee, after conducting a study, recommended declaring private bus services as an industry and extending their operational life from 22 to 25 years to arrest the decline of the sector in Kerala. However, the private bus operators claimed that the committee’s recommendations did not reflect any of their major demands.

T. Gopinathan, general secretary of the All Kerala Bus Operators Association (AKBOA), said on Sunday that the private bus operators would decide to stop services across the state at the organization’s state committee meeting in Palakkad on September 8.

Inadequate recommendations

“The recommendations in the report of the expert committee that studied the situation after the implementation of the Priyadarshini scheme are insufficient for private bus owners to sustain their business. We do not see any recommendations from the committee regarding our demand,” Mr. Gopinathan said.

He said the committee failed to address several key demands of private bus operators, including introduction of zero-fare scheme for women traveling in private buses, provision of diesel subsidy and increase in fares for students.

AKBOA also called for raising the minimum ticket price from ₹10 to ₹15. Mr. Gopinathan said that the financial situation of private bus operators had become so difficult that they were unable to continue operations even for a single day.

Published – 06 Sep 2026 23:17 IST