KERALA METROPOLITAN TRANSPORT AUTHORITY ACT, 2019
An Act to provide for the constitution of Metropolitan Transport Authorities for the planning, supervision, co-ordination, development and regulation of urban transport in the Urban Mobility Areas and for sustainable urban transport and ancillary services within the Urban Mobility Areas in the State of Kerala.
WHEREAS, it is expedient to provide for the constitution of Metropolitan Transport Authorities for the planning, supervision, co-ordination, development and regulation of urban transport in the Urban Mobility Areas and for the sustainable urban transport and ancillary services within Urban Mobility Areas in the State of Kerala;
BE it enacted in the Seventieth Year of the Republic of India as follows:-
(1) This Act may be called the Kerala Metropolitan Transport Authority Act, 2019.
(2) It shall come into force on such date as the State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint.
In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires,-(a) "Authority" means a Metropolitan Transport Authority constituted under section 3;
(b) "aggregator" means an intermediary or market place, digital or otherwise for a passenger or a group of passengers to connect with the driver of a transport vehicle for the purpose of transportation of that passenger or a group of passengers;
(c) "Central Government" means the Government of India;
(d) "Chairperson" means the Chairperson of the Authority;
(e) "Chief Executive Officer" means a Chief Executive Officer appointed under section 8;
(f) "Comprehensive Mobility Plan" means the plan document as mentioned in section 13, that outlines the mobility plan for
(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, establish for each Urban Mobility Area under sub-section (1) of section 11 or notified under sub-section (2) of section 11, an Authority by name, 'Metropolitan Transport Authority' preceded by the name of a major place coming under such Urban Mobility Area.
(2) The Authority shall be a body corporate by the name aforesaid having perpetual succession and a common seal, with power to enter into contracts, to acquire, hold and dispose of properties both movable and immovable and shall by the said name sue and be sued.
(3) The Authority shall consist of the following members, namely:-(a) The Minister for Transport, who shall be the Chairperson of the Authority;
(b) The Secretary to the State Government, Transport Departm
No member of the Authority shall have any share or private interest, whether in his own name or otherwise, in any company or body corporate or an association of persons (whether incorporated or not) or a firm engaged in the business of urban transport or Urban Transport Ancillary Services.
(1) The term of office, allowances payable to, and the other conditions of service of the members, as the case may be, shall be such as may be prescribed by rules.
(2) Where the Chairperson is unable to discharge the functions owing to his absence, illness or any other cause, the Vice-Chairperson, in his absence a member, as may be designated by the State Government, shall discharge the functions of the Chairperson until the Chairperson resumes his charge.
(3) The Chairperson or any member shall not, after the cessation of such office, represent any person engaged in the commercial business of urban transport or Urban Transport Ancillary Services before the Authority in any manner.
(1) Any member, other than an ex-officio member may, by notice in writing under his hand addressed to the State Government, resign his office:Provided that a member, who has given notice of his resignation, shall continue to hold office till the acceptance of his resignation by the State Government.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), the State Government may, by order, remove the member appointed or nominated by the State Government from his office if he,-(a) is or at any time, has been adjudged as an insolvent; or
(b) has been convicted of an offence which in the opinion of the State Government involves moral turpitude; or
(c) has so abused his position as to render his continuance in office prejudicial to the public interest; or
The Chairperson shall have the powers of general superintendence, administration and control in respect of all administrative matters of the Authority:Provided that the Chairperson may delegate such of his powers relating to administrative matters of the Authority, in the manner as he may deems fit, to the Vice-Chairperson or in his absence to any other member.
(1) The State Government shall, by notification in the Official Gazette, appoint a person as the Chief Executive Officer of the Authority with such qualifications and on such terms and conditions as may be prescribed by rules. The Chief Executive Officer shall be responsible for the implementation of the decisions of the Authority and general administration as may be prescribed by regulations or any other matter as may be delegated by the Chairperson or the Authority.
(2) The Authority may appoint, in accordance with the procedure and on terms and conditions specified by regulations, such number of officers, experts, professionals and supporting staff as may be necessary. Such officers, experts or professionals shall have special knowledge and experience in transportation engineering, urban planning, law, business or such other disciplines related to urban transportation o
(1) The Authority shall meet at such time and places and shall observe such procedure in regard to the transaction of business at its meetings as may be prescribed by regulations and at least one such meeting shall be held in every three months. The quorum for a meeting of the Authority shall be one third of the total members.
(2) The Chairperson shall preside over the meetings of the Authority.
(3) Where the Chairperson is unable to attend any meeting of the Authority for any reason, the Vice-Chairperson or in his absence, a member decided by other members present at the meeting shall preside over the meeting.
(4) All issues which come before any meeting of the Authority shall be decided on the basis of majority of votes of the members present and in the event of equality of votes, the
(1) The Authority may, from time to time, constitute committees consisting of such members as it deems fit and may associate with such committees, in such manner and for such period as may be necessary, any expert whose assistance or advice it may desire and refer to such committees for enquiry and report, any subject relating to the purposes of this Act.
(2) The Authority may, as may be necessary, appoint an expert or a committee of experts and refer to such committees any subject relating to the aims and objectives of this Act for enquiry and report.
(3) The persons associated with the committee under sub-section (1) or appointed as members of the committee under sub-section (2) shall be eligible to get such rate of allowances or fees for attending the meetings of the committees as may be determined by the Authority.
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(1) The municipal corporation limits of Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi and Kozhikode shall be the Urban Mobility Area from the date of commencement of this Act.
(2) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, declare any other area specifying its territorial limits as Urban Mobility Area for the purposes of this Act:Provided that the State Government may, if it deems fit, by notification in the Official Gazette, add the area of any other Local Self Government to any of the Urban Mobility Area or exclude from, or modify, the limits of the Urban Mobility Area.
(3) No Military Cantonment or any part of its area required for military or defence purposes or areas within the boundaries of a notified Special Economic Zone shall be included or cause to be included in an Urban Mobility Area without the sanction of the Ce
(1) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, the Authority shall perform or cause to perform the following duties and functions, namely:-(a) Preparation of Comprehensive Mobility Plan, including but not limited to Urban Transport and non-motorised transportation within the Urban Mobility Areas as detailed in section 13 of this Act, in conjunction with the plan under the Kerala Town and Country Planning Act, 2016 (9 of 2016) applicable for such period as the Authority deems fit and updation of such plans at an interval not exceeding five years to ensure integration of continuous land utilization and transport planning in consultation with the authorities concerned;
(b) Preparation of a Transport Investment Programme;
(c) Planning for finance mobilization, construction and operation relating
(1) The Authority shall prepare or cause to prepare a Comprehensive Mobility Plan in accordance with the National Urban Transportation Policy guidelines to ensure integrated, comprehensive and planned development of urban transport in the Urban Mobility Area and such plan shall include,-(i) infrastructure facilities and other works;
(ii) various modes of public transport systems and Mass Rapid Transit Systems and their integration;
(iii) procedures and process to resolve any issues in relation to any existing transport system or transport services being operated and in relation to any new systems or services;
(iv) such other matters as may be necessary for the development and implementation of such plans in order to achieve the object and purpose of this Act:
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(1) The Authority shall have the power to take appropriate measures as it deems fit, for implementation of the approved Comprehensive Mobility Plan.
(2) The Authority may formulate a draft scheme, and recommend to the Government for considering along with the scheme made under Chapter VI of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (Central Act 59 of 1988) or otherwise for integrating road transport services with the approved Comprehensive Mobility Plan, giving all relevant particulars of the nature of the services proposed to be rendered in the urban mobility area specified along with the area or route proposed to be covered.
(3) The scheme may include the terms as applicable like, the area or route to which it operates, the date on which it comes into operation, the period of operation (which shall not, as far as possible, be more than ten
(1) Subject to the provisions of any other law for the time being in force, the Authority may recommend to the State Government to issue directions to the concerned department, authority, transport operator, aggregator or any other persons concerned, and institutions with regard to the implementation of any urban transport project or scheme. Where any such department, authority, transport operator or aggregator or such person or institution does not abide by such directions, the Authority may bring the same to the notice of the State Government for proper compliance of the same.
(2) All police officers shall be bound to assist the Authority and the officers of the Authority in implementation of the measures taken by the Authority and its officers and also for carrying into effect the provisions of the Act.
(3) The Authority shall
(1) The Authority shall have the power to enter into any agreement or contract or sub-contract with a public or private institution for the development of any infrastructure or transport system as may be decided by the Authority or as is provided for in any plan made by the Authority. Besides, the Authority shall have power to monitor public safety on these contracted public services and to give directions to the departments concerned.
(2) For the use of infrastructure development or the transport system or services connected thereto, developed as provided in sub-section (1), the Authority shall have the power to fix and notify the fees or user charges that may be levied under such agreement or contract. The Authority shall have the power to vest the concessionaire or licensee or contractor or sub-contractor, as the case may be, with the power to collect and appropriate su
Subject to the provisions of any law for the time being in force, the Authority shall have the following powers, namely:-(a) accept, acquire, hold, release, transfer or re-convey security, including security provided in a financing arrangement of any kind in any form, whatsoever;
(b) either to purchase or to take on lease, lease, hold, construct, manufacture, maintain, sell or dispose of any property, whatsoever, whether movable or immovable, or any part thereof required for, or in connection with, implementation of the objects and purposes of this Act;
(c) raise fund or facilitate financing of all transport related investment schemes for the implementation of the projects, plans, schemes and proposals included in the Transport Investment Programme;
(d) execute all major transport proje
(1) There shall be constituted a fund to be called the 'Urban Transport Fund' for each Authority.
(2) The following shall be credited to the Fund, namely:-(a) grants, advances and loans sanctioned and funds received through allocations, including budgetary allocations, by the Central Government or the State Government to the respective Authority;
(b) subject to the provisions of any other law for the time being in force,-
(i) any fine imposed and realised and compounding fee collected under this Act;
(ii) compounding fee collected by departments concerned, in cases of traffic violations detected through Intelligent Transport System and reported by the Authority;
(c) fees and user charges available to
The Authority may receive from the Central Government or the State Government such grants, advances and loans as the Authority may deem necessary for the performance of its functions under this Act and all grants, loans and advances so received shall be subject to the terms and conditions as may be determined by such Government.
Subject to the provisions of any law for the time being in force, all payments due from the Authority on account of interest on loans or the repayment of loans shall be made in priority out of all other dues from the Authority.
The Authority may raise finance or debt for the effective implementation of the objects and purposes of this Act through loans or debentures or issuing bonds from such sources, and on such terms and conditions as may be approved by the State Government.
The Authority may, subject to the provisions of any law for the time being in force, take steps to make such grants, advances and loans to any urban transport operator within the Urban Mobility Area concerned as may be deemed necessary and all grants, loans and advances so made shall be on such terms and conditions as may be determined by the Authority, as per the laws applicable.
(1) The Authority shall, subject to the provisions of section 20 maintain a sinking fund for repayment of amount borrowed by it and shall pay every year into the sinking fund the amount as may be sufficient for repayment within the period fixed for the repayment of all amounts so borrowed.
(2) The sinking fund or part thereof shall be utilised in or towards the discharge of the loan for which such fund was credited and until such loan is wholly discharged, it shall not be utilised for any other purpose.
(1) The Authority shall prepare every year, in such form and at such time as may be prescribed by rules, a budget in respect of the financial year next ensuing showing the estimated receipts and expenditure and shall forward to the State Government such number of copies thereof as may be prescribed by rules.
(2) The Budget prepared by the Authority, in so far as it does not demand any revenue contribution from the State Government, shall be final and can be accepted by the Authority without the prior approval of the State Government. However, the budget prepared by the Authority, to the extent it demands any revenue contribution from the State Government, shall be subject to the final approval by the State Government with such change or terms and conditions as the State Government may direct.
(1) The accounts of the Authority shall be subject to audit annually by the Accountant General of the State and any expenditure incurred by him in respect of such audit shall be payable by the Authority to the Accountant General. The Accountant General or any person appointed by him in connection with the audit of accounts of the Authority shall have the same right, privilege and authority as the Accountant General has in connection with the audit of the accounts of the State Government and in particular, shall have the right to demand the production of books, accounts, connected vouchers and other documents and papers.
(2) A copy of the audit report concerned shall be submitted to the State Government, the Authority and any other person concerned or authority specified by the State Government.
(1) The Authority shall prepare for every year a report of its activities during that year and submit such report to the State Government on or before the 1st day of June of the ensuing year.
(2) The State Government shall cause a copy of the annual report to be laid before the State Legislature as soon as may be after it is submitted.
(3) The Authority shall at the end of each financial year submit an audited annual statement to the State Government including but not limited to the following,-(a) amount borrowed or loan raised;
(b) details of the investment made during the year;
(c) mode of repayment, including the amount that has been earmarked for the sinking fund;
(d) amount of securities that ha
The Authority shall submit to the State Government such reports, returns and other particulars as the State Government may require from time to time.
(1) Whoever fails to comply with the provisions of this Act, rules or regulations made thereunder may on conviction, be punishable with fine, which may extend to ten thousand rupees.
(2) Any person who violates the provisions of the Comprehensive Mobility Plan prepared under this Act may, on conviction, be punishable with fine which may extend to ten thousand rupees.
(1) Where the person who contravenes any of the provisions of this Act, rules or regulations made thereunder is a company, every person, who, at the time of such contravention was in-charge of, and was responsible to the company for the conduct of the business of the company, as well as the company, shall be deemed to be liable for such contravention and shall be liable to be proceeded against and punished accordingly:Provided that nothing contained in this sub-section shall render any such person liable to any punishment if he proves that the contravention was committed without his knowledge or that he had exercised all due diligence to prevent the commission of such contravention.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in sub-section (1), where the contravention of the provisions of this Act, rules or regulations has been done by a company and it is proved that such cont
The proceeds of all fines and compounding fees realized under this Act shall be credited to the Fund. Where the Authority report the offences under the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 (Central Act 59 of 1988) under item (ii) of clause (b) of sub-section (2) of section 18, the proceeds of fine and compounding fees so realized shall be sanctioned by the State Government to the Fund concerned through appropriation subject to the provisions of the Kerala Road Safety Authority Act, 2007 (8 of 2007).
The penalties imposed under this Act shall be in addition to, and not in derogation of, any liability under any other law for the time being in force.
(1) No court shall take cognizance for contravention of any of the provisions of this Act, rules or regulations punishable under this Act save on a complaint made on behalf of the Authority duly signed by the Chief Executive Officer.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Code of Criminal Procedure, 1973 (Central Act 2 of 1974), no court inferior to that of a Judicial Magistrate of the First Class shall try an offence under this Act.
(1) Any contravention of the provisions of this Act, rules or regulations punishable under this Act may, either before or after the institution of any prosecution, be compounded by the Authority or by an officer authorised in this behalf by the State Government by notification in the Gazette, by accepting a compounding fee as may be prescribed by rules and a receipt of the amount so received shall be issued to the offender or the person concerned, in the Form as may be prescribed by rules:Provided that the compounding fee shall not exceed the maximum amount of fine mentioned in section 28:
Provided further that where the contravention of any of the provisions of this Act, rules or regulations is by any company or its officer such contravention shall not be compounded if the investigation against such company has been initiated or is pending under this Act.
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No suit, prosecution or other legal proceedings shall lie against the State Government or the Authority or any officer of the State Government or any member, officer or other employee of the Authority for anything which is done in good faith or intended to be done under this Act, rules or regulations made thereunder.
Every summons, notice, order or other document required by this Act or any rule or regulation made thereunder and all decisions of the Authority and permission given by it shall be authenticated by the signature of the Chief Executive Officer or any other officer authorised by the Authority in this behalf and shall be deemed to have been duly served upon the party or parties concerned if the service has been effected in anyone of the following manner, namely:-(i) by personal service;
(ii) by registered post to the last known address of the person;
(iii) in case of failure of service of such summons, notice, etc., under any mode mentioned in items (i) and (ii) above, by affixing it at the house or principal place of business of the party concerned, as the case may be; or
(iv) in case of
Every public notice given under this Act shall be in writing under the signature of the Chief Executive Officer and shall be published by affixing copies in the notice board of the Authority and shall be published in one prominent Malayalam daily and one English daily newspaper having wide circulation in the locality.
Save as otherwise provided in this Act, rules or regulations made thereunder, where any summons, notice, order or other document issued under this Act or any rule or regulation made thereunder requires anything to be done, such summons, notice, order or other document shall specify a time not less than one week for doing the same.
Every member and every officer and other employee of the Authority shall be deemed to be a public servant within the meaning of section 21 of the Indian Penal Code, 1860 (Central Act 45 of 1860).
The Authority may, by notification in the Official Gazette, delegate any power exercisable by it or any of its officers under this Act, except the power to make regulations.
(1) The provisions of this Act and the rules and regulations made thereunder shall have effect within the Urban Mobility Area.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in the Kerala Town and Country Planning Act, 2016 (9 of 2016), -(i) the Chairperson shall be a member in the State Town and Country Planning Board constituted under section (3) of the said Act;
(ii) the Chief Executive Officer shall provide necessary technical support to the District Planning Committee in matters relating to the Comprehensive Mobility Plan while preparing Development Plan for the District under section 13 of the said Act.
(3) Development activities undertaken in an Urban Mobility Area in accordance with the provisions of this Act or the rules or regulations made thereunder shall not be deemed to be unlawful
The Authority may demand the Government or any other authority including Local Self Government Institutions, to make provisions to exempt from the provisions of any other Act for the time being in force or any rules, regulations or bye-laws made by the Government or such other authority if such provisions are inconsistent with any provisions of this Act or any rules or regulations made thereunder, from its application within the Urban Mobility Area.
(1) No suit shall be filed against the Authority or any member or any of its officers or other employees or any person acting under the directions of the Authority or any member or any officer or other employee of the Authority in respect of any act purported to have been done in pursuance of this Act or any rule or regulation made thereunder till the expiration of two months from the date on which a notice in writing has been served on the Authority or such member or officer or employee or person and unless such notice states explicitly the nature of the cause of action, the relief sought, the amount of compensation claimed and the name and place of residence of the intending plaintiff and unless the plaint contains a statement that such notice has been served.
(2) Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in force, no suit as described in sub
Any amount due to Authority under this Act or rules or regulations made thereunder shall be recoverable as if an arrear of public revenue due on land.
(1) The State Government may, by notification in the Official Gazette, make rules to carry out the purposes of this Act.
(2) Without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such rules may provide for all or any of the following matters, namely:-(a) term of office and conditions of service of members under section 5;
(b) procedures for the resignation, removal or suspension of members under section 6;
(c) qualifications for the appointment, pay and conditions of service of Chief Executive Officer under section 8;
(d) procedures regarding the holding of joint meeting and quorum required for meeting;
(e) other duties and functions to be performed by the Authority under section 12;
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The Authority may, with the approval of the State Government, by notification in the Official Gazette make regulations not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act and the rules made thereunder to carry out the provisions of this Act, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing power, such regulations may provide for,-(a) procedure for general administration matters of the Authority and terms and conditions of appointment of officers, experts, professionals and supporting staff of the Authority under section 8;
(b) procedure for the meeting of the Authority under section 9;
(c) procedure to be followed by the committee constituted under section 10 and all other matters relating to the committee;
(d) salaries, allowances, gratuities and conditions of service of the offic
Every rule and regulation made under this Act shall be laid, as soon as may be after it is made, before the Legislative Assembly while it is in session for a total period of fourteen days which may be comprised in one session or in two successive sessions, and if, before expiry of the session in which it is so laid or the session immediately following, the Legislative Assembly makes any modification in such rule or regulation or decides that the rule or regulation should not be made, the rule or regulation shall thereafter have effect only in such modified form or be of no effect, as the case may be; so however that any such modification or annulment shall be without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done under that rule or regulation, as the case may be.
(1) Without prejudice to the foregoing provisions of this Act, the Authority shall, in exercise of its powers or the performance of its functions under this Act, be bound by such directions on questions of policy, other than those relating to technical and administrative matters, as the State Government may give in writing to it from time to time.
(2) Where a dispute arises as to whether a question is one of policy or not under sub-section (1) the decision of the State Government thereon shall be final.
(3) Where any dispute arises between the Authority and other authorities, local bodies, body corporate, Department or other agencies of the Government, the matter shall be resolved at the level of the State Government and the decision of the State Government thereon shall be final and the parties involved in such dispute are bound
(1) If any difficulty arises in giving effect to the provisions of this Act, the State Government may, by order published in the Official Gazette, make provisions not inconsistent with the provisions of this Act which appear to it to be necessary or expedient, for removing the difficulty:Provided that no such order shall be issued after the expiry of a period of two years from the date of commencement of this Act.
(2) Every order issued under this section shall, as soon as may be after it is made, be laid before the Legislative Assembly.
[See section 2(o)]
URBAN TRANSPORT
Urban Transport consists of different modes of transport in an Urban Mobility Area that are available for use by all persons who pay the established fare and which are operated on fixed routes and with fixed schedules within the Urban Mobility Area, and include the following functional categories:-(a) Buses
(b) Tramways
(c) Metro Railway
(d) Electric Trolley Bus
(e) Cable Car
(f) Bus Rapid Transit System
(g) Light Rail Transit
(h) Inter-city Railways
[See section 2(p)]
URBAN TRANSPORT ANCILLARY SERVICES
1. 'Para Transit'-This includes systems provided by operators within an Urban Mobility Area available to person on hire basis for individual and multiple trips, such as:-(a) Auto rickshaws/Shared auto rickshaws/E-rickshaws;
(b) Taxi Cabs, Hire a Cab or Shared Taxi;
(c) Minibus/Vans;
(d) Any transport vehicle operated under an aggregator;
(e) Any other mode irrespective of its fuel and propulsion system, which meet the requirements of Para Transit.
2. Walking, bicycle, cycle rickshaw and any other green modes of transport that do not consume fuel propulsion or c
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