Supreme Court Guidelines for School Buses in India (2026)

There is no single statute titled "school bus rules". The framework is assembled from three sources, which is why schools find it hard to get a straight answer.

The practical consequence is that a school complying with the central position can still fail a state inspection, because the state has added something. Always check your own state transport department position alongside the national one.

• Supreme Court directions on school transport safety, which set the baseline expectations.
• The Motor Vehicles Act and Central Motor Vehicles Rules, which govern the vehicle, the permit and the driver.
• State transport department circulars, which implement the above and add local requirements.

These are the requirements most commonly checked, and the ones parents ask about.

Seating capacity is defined by the permit, and overcrowding is among the most frequently cited violations in inspection reports.

• The bus must be painted in the prescribed yellow with "School Bus" displayed clearly. A hired bus not owned by the school must display "On School Duty".
• A functional first aid box must be carried.
• Windows must be fitted with horizontal grills, and the doors must have a reliable lock.
• The bus must carry a fire extinguisher.
• The school name and telephone number must be displayed on the bus.
• Speed governors are required, with school buses subject to a restricted maximum speed.

The people matter more than the paint, and this is where scrutiny has tightened.

Verification is where schools most often have a gap. A licence can be checked at the roadside; a background check is something the school has to have done and documented before an incident, not after.

• The driver must hold a valid licence for the vehicle class, with a minimum period of driving experience, typically several years of heavy vehicle experience.
• Drivers with a record of specified traffic offences, particularly those relating to speeding or driving under the influence, are disqualified.
• An attendant should accompany the bus, particularly where young children are carried, to supervise boarding and alighting.
• Driver antecedents should be verified before engagement.

Most school buses fall within AIS-140, which requires a certified vehicle location tracking device transmitting to the state backend, with emergency buttons fitted.

This is a legal requirement for permit-holding school transport in most states, not an optional safety upgrade. See what is a VLTD for what the device must be.

Beyond the statutory minimum, many schools provide parents with a tracking view. That is a service decision rather than a legal requirement, and it carries data protection obligations covered in the parent-facing guide.

From inspection patterns, the recurring gaps are not exotic.

Four of these five are administrative rather than financial. They are failures of record-keeping, not of budget.

• Overcrowding beyond permitted seating, particularly on popular routes.
• Expired fitness certificates on older buses in the fleet, where one or two vehicles lapse while the rest are current.
• Driver documentation held but not verified, or verified once at hiring and never rechecked.
• Tracking devices fitted but no longer transmitting, which passes a visual inspection and fails a backend check.
• Attendants assigned on paper but not consistently present on every trip.

Before an inspection, or at the start of a term, verify the following for every vehicle rather than a sample.

• Permit valid and seating capacity matched to actual usage.
• Fitness certificate current.
• Insurance current.
• Tracking device registered and actively transmitting, checked on the state portal rather than the vendor dashboard.
• Driver licence valid for class, experience adequate, antecedents verified and documented.
• Attendant assigned and present.
• First aid box, fire extinguisher, window grills, door locks, speed governor all functional.
• Yellow paint, "School Bus" or "On School Duty" marking, school name and contact number displayed.