Introduction
Facilities and hygiene of clean public toilets on the Indian Highway systems (National Highways or simply NH) and expressways have become a major issue, with a recent decision by the Kerala High Court shedding light on the issue. This problem does not only affect the convenience of the travellers but also poses doubts about the role of governmental agencies, especially the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) and non-governmental agencies such as owners of petrol pumps. The controversy is on how to provide the general population, transit riders and customers with sufficient facilities such as good toilets in the waysides.
Background
Lack of clean public toilets during road trips is one of the best-known challenges in India, as several travellers, especially women, have written reports about having to use insecure or unsanitary methods because of the insufficiency or poor conditions of the current facilities.
Traditionally, toilets have been required to be supplied by the petrol pumps. Their condition is, however, often criticised as being unhygienic. This has seen local municipal governments using petrol pumps and private toilets as public conveniences even going as far as pasting posters indicating that they are so. This habit caused problems to the petroleum dealers as they claimed that these facilities were also meant to serve their customers rather than the general people and paved the way to overcrowding of facilities, safety issues and even fights within their premises.
Policy Guidelines to Development of Wayside Amenities along National Highways and Expressways were issued by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH) on 11 February 2021. These rules are aware of the fact that the provision of wayside amenities is important to passengers and drivers to deliver safe, comfortable, and convenient traveling and to diminish fatigue on long routes. The policy will have such amenities developed using several models as Public-Private Partnerships (PPP), lease or ownership and they will attempt to have such amenities in every 40-60 km of travel distance. The requirements do stipulate compulsory amenities, such as toilet amenities, such as ladies, gentiles’ amenities, and Divyang amenities (persons with disabilities), and proper ramps, railings, dustbins and baby care rooms.
The case that was presented to the Kerala High Court was on an appeal by the association of petroleum dealers in Kerala and individual petrol pump owners. Instead, they appealed against a previous decision of one judge who had ordered that toilets in petrol pumps in highways be left open to be used by the general public, and those in other locations be open to clients and passengers by transit, except where there were real safety reasons.
Key Points:
NHAI Failure and Responsibility: The Kerala high court scolded the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) on the failure to facilitate and maintain adequate public toilets along the National Highways. Justice Amit Rawal made it very clear that the duty of the NHAI is to offer such facilities, regretting that the existing NH toilets are not functional and that there is on duty no one to keep them clean or tidy.
Judicial Remarks on Toilet Scarcity: Justice Amit Rawal also shared his own experience of travelling between Jodhpur and Ranthambore, where he could not find a single toilet on the NH despite the four challans he received on the highway regarding over-speeding, which was ironic (So challans are there but no public toilet). He also made a critical comparison between the situation in India and other countries, where convenient stops at varying intervals are commonly present, where one can get coffee, food, and calls of nature.
In Kerala High Court, the Ruling was Modified:
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- Non-Highway Petrol Pumps: The Division Bench partially concurred with the petroleum dealers by holding that petrol pumps that are not located on the National Highways can exercise their discretion on the use of toilets by the people. They have however the obligation to allow the customers and transit travellers to access the toilets 24900 hours but have no obligation to open them to the rest.
- National Highway Petrol Pumps: In the case of outlets situated along the National Highways, the Court ordered a circular by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways to be followed. These outlets should permit their customers, staff and transit travellers to visit toilets during working hours, or 24 hours in case their petrol outlets are operational 24 hours. They must also erect boards at the entrance of the retail outlets to show the availability of water and toilet.
Recent Developments
The Kerala High Court ruled on 18 September 2025, which was the most important recent development. This decision amended a previous one-judge decision, giving the discretion to non-highway petrol pumps regarding the use of the public toilets, but requiring their availability to customers and transit travellers. In the case of petrol pumps on the National Highways, the court affirmed the adherence to the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways circular, which allows the customers, staff, and transit travellers to have access to toilets during working hours and to place display boards about the availability of the facilities. Most importantly, the court outright prohibited the local government bodies against forcibly declaring petrol pump toilets as the public toilets. This verdict thus strikes a balance between the interests of the populace, customers and petroleum dealers.
Conclusion
The problem of poor and ill-kept public facilities on the National Highways and expressways in India has been an issue that is of concern to travellers. The recent decision of the Kerala High Court tries to bring clarity and responsibility by making a distinction between the right to access the convenient at highway versus non-highway petrol pumps, and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) squarely bears the primary responsibility of providing the conveniences to the masses. Although there are policy directives in the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways which stipulate the obligatory provision of wayside facilities, such as toilets, the reality on the ground is that there is a huge discrepancy in implementation and maintenance resulting in the general dissatisfaction of the general people.
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WRITTEN BY Manisha Kunwar
