Council of CBSE Schools seeks rollback of tax hike for buses

The Council of CBSE Schools has sought a rollback of the tax increase for school buses and the “insistence” of the Motor Vehicles department (MVD) on installing three CCTVs in each bus.

While seeking a tax rate on par with that of government school buses, the council said that buses of unaided schools were levied taxes five times higher than those of government and aided schools. The hike in tax would affect around 1,700 CBSE and ICSE schools in Kerala, especially since each school had an average of seven buses, said Indira Rajan, national general secretary of the council.

While the council welcomed the installation of a CCTV in each bus, it said the insistence on three would entail a larger financial commitment. A memorandum in this regard had been submitted to the MVD, she added.

Meanwhile, MVD officials said that cameras facing the front, rear, footboard, and interior of each bus were essential, especially in the wake of several fatal accidents reported in recent years across different districts involving children who had crossed the road from directly in front of or behind school buses. The children might not always be clearly visible to the drivers, they added.