Nagpur: At least four Nagpur Municipal Corporation (NMC) Aapli Buses are being used to ferry students of schools in east Nagpur, picking them up from residential localities and dropping them inside school campuses.The arrangement has raised questions over whether the civic body obtained mandatory permission from the Regional Transport Office (RTO) to operate dedicated school transport services and whether the buses comply with statutory school bus safety norms.Videos and photographs accessed by TOI show the Aapli Buses entering school premises in the Lakadganj area and dropping students at the doorstep before resuming their scheduled city routes. Sources said eligible students have been issued concessional bus passes under the Aapli Bus system, which is valid.NMC transport department officials admitted that the service was introduced after receiving requests from a few schools in east and south Nagpur to transport students directly into their campuses. However, when asked whether the civic body had obtained approval from the RTO for operating dedicated school trips, an official admitted that no such permission was taken.A senior RTO official said that under the Maharashtra Motor Vehicles (Regulations for School Buses) Rules, vehicles deployed exclusively for transporting schoolchildren must comply with prescribed safety standards and obtain the necessary statutory approvals. “A city bus cannot ordinarily be converted into a dedicated school transport vehicle without following the prescribed regulatory procedure,” the official said.The issue has also brought into focus whether the buses are equipped with mandatory safety features for school transport. Maharashtra govt has proposed stricter norms requiring GPS-based vehicle tracking systems, CCTV cameras, panic buttons, fire detection and suppression systems, seat belts, and enhanced accountability for buses transporting schoolchildren.The development has also put the spotlight on Chalo Mobility Pvt Ltd, the Integrated Bus Transport Management (IBTM) agency managing NMC’s Aapli Bus service. While Chalo Mobility neither owns nor operates the buses, it manages scheduling, ticketing, conductors, and intelligent transport systems under the IBTM contract. Its role in deploying buses for dedicated services could come under scrutiny if an inquiry is initiated.Transport committee member Shailesh Pandey, who flagged the issue, questioned under what policy the NMC was operating a school bus service. “If no statutory approval was obtained, the arrangement could invite regulatory action and prompt a review of similar services operating under the civic transport network,” the senior RTO official said.
