A bus route in East Burdwan is active, for which the permit is in the name of a dead woman. According to the Motor Vehicles Act this is illegal.

The bus has been operating for the last eight months using the permit of the dead owner. The Regional Transport Authority in Burdwan after receiving complaints on the issue has initiated a rectification now. The RTO, East Burdwan, Gobinda Nandi said, “This permit paper indicates that it was renewed to continue to ply from 4 October till 31 October.” But, the bus was seen carrying passengers even on Friday. Technically, the route permit becomes invalid after 31 October.

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Sandhya Kundu of Burdwan was issued a permit for Burdwan to Maldanga via Bhatar, first on 30 November, 1999. It was renewed accordingly by the RTA board from time to time.

Kundu passed away on 27 March this year. “We’d intimated about my mother’s demise to the authority but they again renewed the permit on my deceased mother’s name in October,” said Sanjoy Kundu, son of the deceased woman. He, his sister Tapati Boot had filed a petition for transfer of the permit in their favour, but they said: “It’s really surprising that the permit has been done on my dead mother’s name.”

Plying of a commercial vehicle on a route permit kept in the name of a dead person, according to the Motor Vehicles Act, 2009 is an offense. Section 82 of the Act deals with transfer of permit, while the Sub-Section 2 of the Act suggests: “After the death of any permit holder, the person succeeding to the possession of vehicle covered by the permit, may, for a period of three months, use the permit as if it had been granted to himself.”

The Act maintained: “Such persons have, within 30 days of the death of the holder and of his own intention to use the permit.”

“They didn’t have their own bus and had hired my bus for years,” said Ajoy Bhattacharya of Bhatar. The RTO, East Burdwan said: “We need to investigate how the permit was renewed despite all of these.”