Kochi: In a massive blow to KSRTC, a division bench of Kerala High Court in an interim order on Friday allowed private buses to operate long-distance services. The order applies to buses having permits to conduct services. 

Recently, KSRTC took over more than 200 bus routes from private players after alleging they were conducting long-distance services beyond its permissible limit. 

The observation from the court came while considering a petition filed against Transport Department's decision not to renew the permit for private buses to conduct services beyond 140 kilometres. 

A few years back, KSRTC took over 241 of 470 routes from private buses alleging they violated the maximum permissible limit. Further, KSRTC cluster officers collected information on such buses and their time schedules from RTO offices. Later, KSRTC started its services on these routes by operating fast passengers.