Kerala State Road Transport Corporation to roll out gender tickets

Thiruvananthapuram: Kerala State Road Transport Corporation has issued an order introducing gender-based ticket recording across its bus services, a move widely seen as a major step toward implementing the newly elected government’s promise of free bus travel for women in Kerala.

According to the order issued by KSRTC Deputy General Manager Nishanth S, conductors using Electronic Ticketing Machine (ETM) devices will be required to record whether tickets are being issued to male or female passengers from May 9, 2026, onward. The corporation has directed all depots to strictly enforce the system and ensure conductors accurately enter passenger gender details while issuing tickets.

KSRTC stated that the immediate objective of the move is to collect precise data regarding the number of women passengers using public transport services. However, the timing of the decision has triggered intense political discussion because one of the major promises made by the Indian National Congress during the Kerala Assembly election campaign was the introduction of free travel for women in KSRTC buses.

Following the Congress-led alliance’s sweeping election victory, speculation has rapidly grown over when the free travel scheme for women will officially be rolled out. The new ticketing mechanism is being viewed as the first administrative step toward identifying and calculating the scale of the proposed welfare scheme before implementation.

The decision has already sparked widespread debate on social media and within political circles, with supporters describing it as a long-awaited gender-sensitive welfare measure while critics question how quickly the financially struggling transport corporation can implement large-scale concessions. Despite the political controversy, KSRTC has made it clear that the gender-entry system will become mandatory across services from Saturday onward, marking a significant operational change in Kerala’s public transport network.