The Andhra Pradesh government is contemplating a ban on private sleeper buses to check the growing number of accidents.
The move was spurred by a recent spate of serious accidents involving such buses plying between major cities within and outside the state.
A cabinet sub-committee formed to review measures to prevent bus accidents took the matter up for discussion. State Transport Minister Mandipalli Ramprasad Reddy and Home Minister Vangalapudi Anitha were present.
Most private sleeper buses currently in service were converted vehicles rather than factory-built models, officials present informed the sub-committee, and flagged the lax compliance with structural and safety standards, including lack of adequate emergency exits, poor ventilation, and heightened fire hazards.
“In the first phase, the state government is examining the possibility of banning non-factory-built sleeper buses. We shall take up with the Centre seeking regulatory intervention to either restrict or prohibit unsafe sleeper coach operations,” Reddy told reporters after the meeting.
He added that the government will not hesitate to take stringent action to save lives.
Investigations into the October 2025 bus fire in Kurnool, which killed 19 people, and similar incidents in Maredumilli and Markapuram indicated that human error was the primary cause in many cases, noted the minister.
Also read: 14 burnt alive, over dozen injured in Andhra bus fire accident
Pending a final decision, the government was rolling out a series of stringent safety measures with immediate effect, he added.
A key measure includes regulation of travel time based on distance between the points of origin and destination.
“If a bus reaches earlier than the stipulated time, it will not be allowed into the city,” the minister said, adding that the move was aimed at discouraging speeding.
All private buses operating on routes longer than 300 kilometres will now require to be staffed by two drivers. A dedicated seat for the off-duty driver to rest, especially during overnight journeys, is also now mandatory.
Reddy said the directions were already communicated to private travel operators.
The government has also sanctioned Rs 40 crore to install speed guns on roads to check speeding.
“Private bus operators have also been directed to install two cameras in every bus to monitor the alertness of drivers and assess the movement of vehicles coming from the opposite direction,” he said.
The minister said the government had intensified inspections after the Markapuram incident. Sixteen check posts have been set up across the state, and authorities have conducted around 10,000 vehicle inspections in the last 10 days.
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