Permits and inter-state tax for a hired bus in Karnataka
The permit a Karnataka bus must carry, what the All India Tourist Permit costs, whether it removes state entry tax, and what a border crossing really adds to your quote. Written to be checkable, with its own uncertainty flagged.
In short
An All India Tourist Permit for a 22-plus seat coach costs ₹3,00,000 a year (₹90,000 a quarter) plus a ₹1,000 annual authorisation fee. Without one, a short-duration entry into Tamil Nadu for a bus-class vehicle is quoted around ₹25,000 for a 35-seater and ₹30,500 for a 45-seater; on a valid AITP it should be ₹0 additional.
Reviewed 20 September 2026 · statutory fees re-checked against the Karnataka Transport Department at each review; entry-tax figures re-confirmed with check-post experience every quarter
What a hired bus in Karnataka must be carrying
Five documents. If any one of them is missing or expired, the vehicle is not legally carrying your group, and in a serious incident that becomes your organisation's problem as much as the operator's.
- A contract-carriage permit — the permit that allows a vehicle to be hired as a whole by one party for a whole journey. A stage-carriage permit is a different thing entirely and does not cover charter work.
- An All India Tourist Permit, if the vehicle will leave Karnataka, or a valid inter-state arrangement in its place.
- A current fitness certificate. Ask for the expiry date, not the word 'valid'.
- An insurance policy with a stated passenger liability. Ask for the per-seat limit as a number.
- A driver with the correct PSV badge class for a heavy passenger vehicle, plus police verification on file.
Any operator should be able to produce all five as PDFs within an hour of being asked. We send them unasked with every corporate quote, because the alternative is a procurement team asking for them in week three.
All India Tourist Permit fees, 2026
Statutory figures under the national tourist-permit scheme, payable quarterly or annually, plus a mandatory ₹1,000 annual authorisation fee per operator. These are the numbers to hold an operator to.
| Passenger capacity | Annual permit fee | Quarterly | What it is for |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 5 — taxi class | ₹20,000 | ₹6,000 | Cars; not relevant to bus charter |
| 5 – 9 | ₹30,000 | ₹9,000 | Large MPVs and small vans |
| 10 – 22 | ₹80,000 | ₹24,000 | Tempo travellers and minibuses |
| 22 and above — bus and coach | ₹3,00,000 | ₹90,000 | Every 27, 33, 45, 49 and 55-seat vehicle |
| Authorisation fee | ₹1,000 | — | Mandatory annual, per operator |
Does an AITP remove state entry tax? The honest answer
It is supposed to. That is the entire economic point of the permit. Under the national tourist-permit scheme as it stands in 2026, a vehicle holding a valid All India Tourist Permit should not pay additional state entry tax when it crosses into another state — the ₹3,00,000 annual fee is the price of that freedom.
In practice, enforcement at border check-posts is inconsistent, and this is the single most confused subject in the Indian charter market. Operators report different treatment at different posts and in different months. Anyone who tells you the position is completely settled everywhere is either not running interstate work or not telling you what happens at the counter.
What that means for you as a buyer is simple and practical. Ask, in writing, whether the vehicle assigned to your trip holds a current AITP, and ask what your quote assumes about entry tax. A quote that says 'permits extra, at actuals' without naming a number is not wrong — it is honest about a variable cost — but you should know the order of magnitude before you sign, not at the check-post.
Our own position: we tell you the AITP status of the assigned vehicle at quote stage, we show entry tax as a named line with an expected range when the vehicle is not on an AITP, and we bill it at actuals against the receipt. If the check-post charges nothing, you are billed nothing.
Short-duration entry tax where the vehicle is not on an AITP — bus class
Indicative figures for a Karnataka-registered tourist bus making a short-duration entry into a neighbouring state, per vehicle. Tamil Nadu works on a per-seat basis of roughly ₹650 a seat for bus-class vehicles, which is where the coach figures below come from and why AITP is economically unavoidable for an operator running Ooty regularly.
| Destination state | 35-seater | 45-seater | 49-seater | On a valid AITP |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tamil Nadu — Ooty, Yercaud, Pondicherry, Chennai | ≈₹25,000 | ≈₹30,500 | ≈₹33,000 | ₹0 additional |
| Kerala — Wayanad, Munnar | ₹18,000–35,000 | ₹18,000–35,000 | ₹18,000–35,000 | ₹0 additional |
| Goa | ₹15,000–30,000 | ₹15,000–30,000 | ₹15,000–30,000 | ₹0 additional |
| Andhra Pradesh / Telangana — Tirupati, Hyderabad | ₹20,000–40,000 | ₹20,000–40,000 | ₹20,000–40,000 | ₹0 additional |
| Maharashtra | ₹20,000–40,000 | ₹20,000–40,000 | ₹20,000–40,000 | ₹0 additional |
Small-vehicle entry tax for comparison
Published schedules for smaller Karnataka-registered tourist vehicles on short-duration entry. These are firmer figures than the bus-class table above, and they show why the per-seat logic scales the way it does.
| Destination state | 12-seat | 16-seat | 21-seat | 25-seat |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Tamil Nadu | ₹1,500 | ₹5,000 | ₹5,000 | ₹7,000 |
| Kerala | ₹5,500 | ₹9,000 | ₹9,500 | ₹10,000 |
| Andhra Pradesh / Telangana | ₹3,500 | — | ₹10,500 | ₹12,500 |
| Goa | ₹5,000 | — | ₹8,500 | ₹9,500 |
| Maharashtra | ₹8,500 | ₹10,000 | ₹10,000 | ₹10,000 |
The arithmetic that makes AITP unavoidable for a Bengaluru operator
A ₹3,00,000 annual permit fee sounds enormous until you put it against the alternative on a single route.
Take a 45-seat coach running Bengaluru to Ooty. Without an AITP, a short-duration Tamil Nadu entry for that vehicle is around ₹30,500 — on a trip whose entire charter subtotal for three days is ₹52,800–71,200. The permit cost would be roughly a quarter of the job, paid again on every single trip.
Ten Ooty, Pondicherry or Yercaud trips a year in that vehicle and the entry tax alone exceeds the annual AITP fee. A Bengaluru operator with any meaningful interstate volume therefore runs its fleet on all-India permits, and the cost is inside the per-kilometre rate you were quoted rather than appearing as a line item.
This is why the question to ask is not 'how much is the permit'. It is 'is the vehicle assigned to my trip on an AITP, and what does my quote assume'. A 45-seater on an AITP and a 45-seater without one are two different products at two different prices, and only one of them has a predictable border cost.
Karnataka's 2026 contract-carriage road tax change
There is a live Karnataka story behind all of this, and it is worth understanding because it affects who you are actually hiring from.
Karnataka moved during 2026 to reduce road tax on contract-carriage and sleeper buses. The stated reason was competitive: operators had been registering fleets in other states specifically to escape Karnataka's rates, which cost the state revenue and made fleet ownership in Karnataka less attractive than fleet ownership elsewhere.
We are reporting this at headline level deliberately. The detailed rate schedule was not reliably retrievable at the time of writing, and publishing a precise figure we cannot verify would be exactly the behaviour this guide exists to criticise. Treat the direction as established and the numbers as requiring confirmation at the Karnataka Transport Department.
Why it matters to a buyer: a vehicle registered outside Karnataka but operating in Bengaluru carries a different compliance profile and a different set of exposures. Ask where the vehicle assigned to your contract is registered. For a weekend charter it changes little. For a multi-year employee-transport contract with fifty vehicles, it is a question your procurement team should be asking.
Verify these before you pay an advance
Documents
- Contract-carriage permit for the specific vehicle, not for the operator generally
- AITP status if the route leaves Karnataka — ask for the permit number
- Fitness certificate with its expiry date
- Insurance policy with the passenger liability limit stated as a number
- Driver PSV badge class and police verification, with dates
Questions about the quote
- Does the quote assume an AITP vehicle, and what happens if a substitute is sent?
- Is entry tax inside the rate, shown as a line, or billed at actuals?
- Which GST election — 5% without input credit or 12% with it?
- What are tolls expected to run on this route, and are they receipted?
- Is night halt inside bata or billed separately?
GST: the other number your finance team will ask about
Permits are a cost inside the rate. GST is a cost on top of it, and unlike permits you get a choice.
Passenger transport by hired bus can be invoiced at 5% with no input tax credit or 12% with input tax credit. On a ₹1,00,000 charter the 5% invoice totals ₹1,05,000 and none of it comes back. The 12% invoice totals ₹1,12,000, of which ₹12,000 is creditable for a GST-registered company — a net ₹1,00,000, or ₹5,000 less.
Non-registered buyers should take the 5% invoice; registered companies should almost always take the 12% one. The election belongs in the purchase order before the first invoice. The full worked comparison, including what it does to a monthly employee-transport contract, is on our rate card.
Questions we answer daily
What does an All India Tourist Permit cost in Karnataka in 2026?
₹3,00,000 a year, or ₹90,000 a quarter, for a vehicle with 22 or more passenger seats, plus a mandatory ₹1,000 annual authorisation fee. Vehicles in the 10–22 seat band pay ₹80,000 a year and 5–9 seaters ₹30,000. Re-verify at the Karnataka Transport Department before relying on these figures in a contract.
Does an AITP mean no state entry tax?
That is the intent of the permit and the reason for its cost — a vehicle on a valid AITP should pay no additional state entry tax. In practice enforcement at border check-posts is inconsistent, which is the single most confused topic in this market. Ask your operator in writing what your quote assumes about entry tax.
What is the interstate permit charge from Karnataka to Tamil Nadu for a bus?
Around ₹25,000 for a 35-seater, ₹30,500 for a 45-seater and ₹33,000 for a 49-seater on a short-duration entry without an AITP, based on Tamil Nadu's roughly ₹650-per-seat basis for bus-class vehicles. On a valid All India Tourist Permit it should be nil. Verify the figure for your specific vehicle and duration at quote.
How much is entry tax for a tempo traveller from Bangalore to Ooty?
About ₹1,500 for a 12-seater and around ₹5,000 for a 16 or 21-seat vehicle entering Tamil Nadu on a short-duration basis without an AITP. Kerala runs higher at ₹5,500–₹9,500 for the same classes. These are published small-vehicle schedules and are firmer figures than the bus-class estimates.
Why is an AITP economically necessary for a Bengaluru operator?
Because one short-duration Tamil Nadu entry for a 45-seater is around ₹30,500, roughly a quarter of the charter value of a three-day Ooty trip, and it is payable every trip. Ten interstate trips a year in one vehicle exceeds the ₹3,00,000 annual permit fee. Any operator with real interstate volume runs all-India permits.
What permit does a bus need for travel inside Karnataka?
A contract-carriage permit — the permit that allows the whole vehicle to be hired by one party for a whole journey. A stage-carriage permit is a different instrument for scheduled route services and does not cover charter work. Coorg, Chikmagalur, Hampi and Mysore trips need no interstate permit at all.
Did Karnataka reduce bus road tax in 2026?
Karnataka moved during 2026 to reduce contract-carriage and sleeper-bus road tax, because operators had been registering fleets in other states to escape the earlier rates. We report the direction rather than a figure, because the detailed schedule was not reliably retrievable — confirm the current rates at the Karnataka Transport Department.
What documents should I check before paying an advance?
Five: the contract-carriage permit for the specific vehicle, AITP status if the route leaves Karnataka, the fitness certificate with its expiry date, the insurance policy with a stated per-seat passenger liability, and the driver's PSV badge class with police verification. Any operator should produce all five as PDFs within an hour.
Is entry tax included in the quoted per-kilometre rate?
Not normally. Tolls, parking, inter-state entry tax and permits are excluded across every Bengaluru operator and billed at actuals. What differs between operators is whether the quote names the expected figure or hides behind 'extra charges apply'. Ask for the number and ask whether the assigned vehicle holds an AITP.
Should the charter invoice be 5% or 12% GST?
For a GST-registered company, 12% with input tax credit — on ₹1,00,000 of charter the net cost is ₹1,00,000 against ₹1,05,000 under the 5% option, because the ₹12,000 tax is creditable. For a buyer with no GST registration, 5% is correct. Fix the election in the purchase order before the first invoice.
Related pages
- Rate card and GST explainer Where the 5% versus 12% maths is worked
- Bangalore to Ooty The Tamil Nadu crossing in practice
- Bangalore to Wayanad The Kerala crossing
- Bangalore to Goa Long-haul interstate charter
- Bangalore to Chennai The busiest Tamil Nadu crossing
- Getaway matrix Which destinations cross a border
- Employee transport contracts Compliance pack and RFP checklist
Send the headcount, the pickup points and the date.
You get a written quote with billable kilometres, bata, tolls and the GST option spelled out — usually inside two hours, on WhatsApp or as a proforma invoice your finance team can raise a PO against.