Delhi notifies premium bus aggregator policy

23 Nov 2023 CW Team

In a move towards providing more convenient and reliable public transportation in the national capital, the Delhi government notified its premium bus aggregator policy.

The newly notified Delhi Motor Vehicles Licensing of Aggregator (Premium Buses) Scheme 2023 aims to motivate residents to shift from their private vehicles to comfortable bus services for travel within the city.

Under the policy, an aggregator will receive a five-year licence to operate these buses. Licence holders will have the authority to fix fares specific to routes. While dynamic pricing is permitted, the base fare must not fall below the peak fare of DTC AC buses. To ensure customer convenience, only digital pre-booked ticketing is allowed.

The policy's primary objective is to incentivise the upper middle class to transition towards utilising public transportation services. In line with this directive, the forthcoming premium buses are slated to feature a range of amenities, including air conditioning, Wi-Fi connectivity, GPS navigation, CCTV surveillance, panic buttons, and a 2 x 2 seating arrangement, with optional reclining seats available.

The regulations specify that electric premium buses will be exempt from licence fees. However, for applicants other than e-bus operators, the rules outline a fee structure for licence grants.

These applicants are required to pay a total of Rs 5 lakh along with an interest-free security deposit. The security deposit amounts to Rs 1 lakh for 100 buses, Rs 2.5 lakh for 1,000 buses, and Rs 5 lakh for fleets comprising more than 1,000 buses.

Infrastructure Transport

15 Sep 2025

Cabinet Approves Key Highway and Rail Projects in Bihar Region

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the four-laning of the 84.2-km Mokama-Munger section of the Buxar-Bhagalpur high-speed corridor, a key industrial region in poll-bound Bihar. The Cabinet also sanctioned the doubling of the 177-km Bhagalpur-Dumka-Rampurhat railway line, which passes through Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal, at a cost of Rs 31.7 billion.The Rs 44.5 billion highway project will be constructed under the hybrid annuity model, a variant of public-private partnership. The Mokama-Munger stretch was the only remaining two-lane section of the 363-km Buxar-Bhagalpur corridor. Fou..

NGT Issues Notice on Bengaluru Twin Tunnel Project

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday issued notices in response to a petition filed by Bengaluru Praja Vedike and others, challenging the Bengaluru twin tunnel road project. Petitioners claim the project was “hastily announced” and bypassed mandatory environmental impact assessment procedures.Notices have been served to the Karnataka Government, Greater Bengaluru Authority, State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Ltd (B-SMILE), the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and project consultants.The 16.74-km twin-tube..

India’s Residential Sales to Dip Slightly in FY26

Residential sales in India’s seven major cities are projected to decline by up to 3 per cent year-on-year in FY26 to 620–640 million square feet (msf), amid a moderation in sales velocity, according to ratings agency Icra.In FY25, sales stood at 643 msf, down 8 per cent YoY, following a sharp contraction in new launches and moderated demand in the affordable and mid-income segments. This slowdown came after the sector posted a robust compound annual growth rate of 26 per cent in area sales between FY22 and FY24.Icra noted: “Having seen a strong upcycle, the sector entered an equilibrium ..