Yards to be set up for seized vehicles in every taluk: Minister

Transport Minister C.P. John presented the Kerala Motor Vehicles Taxation (Amendment) Bill, 2026, in the Legislative Assembly.

The bill includes provisions to establish special approved vehicle yards in every taluk to store vehicles seized for non-payment of tax within the State. The Minister stated that the new amendment bill aims to address the issue of insufficient space for storing seized vehicles.

Under Section 11 of the 1976 Act, Motor Vehicle Department officials (holding the rank of Assistant Motor Vehicle Inspector or higher) and police officers (holding the rank of Sub-Inspector or higher) currently have the authority to seize vehicles used or kept for use in the State without tax payment.

However, government land with adequate facilities to store such seized vehicles was unavailable, hindering the effective implementation of existing legal provisions. The Minister explained that the government decided to set up authorised yards in every taluk to resolve this crisis.

Under the new law, fees for transporting the seized vehicle to these yards and parking fees for storing them there will be collected from the owners. Even if proof of tax payment is produced, the vehicle will be released only after these fees are paid in full. The government will determine the fee rates at a later stage. The implementation of the new system will not entail any additional financial liability for the government. After rejecting the ‘point of order’ raised by Opposition legislator Premkumar, the bill was referred to the subject committee for consideration.

During the discussion on the bill, Mr. John informed the assembly that the KSRTC, which had been grappling with a severe financial crisis, was slowly recovering from the crisis. Although the corporation is not fully profitable, the Minister said that it is reaching a stage where it can settle outstanding dues and debts.

Over the past decade, KSRTC has managed to add only 1,300 buses to its fleet. The Corporation has received 70 buses through donation recently as the government sought the assistance of MLAs to avoid the massive financial burden associated with purchasing vehicles. The current objective is to deploy more vehicles while minimizing the financial burden associated with purchasing new buses. Additionally, more buses are being introduced through rental agreements with private operators, he said.

In preparation for the upcoming Sabarimala season, 100 older buses have been fully refurbished and readied for service, alongside the new fleet, he informed.

The Minister also informed that the frequent malfunctioning of the Central government’s online system for vehicle-related services was causing significant inconvenience to the public. The issue was brought to the attention of the Union Minister for Surface Transport immediately after the UDF government assumed office. Although the Centre had assured a resolution within five to 10 days, the site continues to experience outages during daytime hours. The matter was also raised when a delegation led by the Chief Minister visited Delhi, he said.