Even as schools get ready to reopen from December 15, the chances of school buses resuming service look slim. According to the bus contractors, red tapism over renewal of licences is proving to be a major hurdle.  Many of them have even decided to not run buses as they are anticipating further losses upon resuming their services. The School Bus Owners Association (SBOA) has written a letter to Nitin Gadkari, central minister for road and transport, seeking relief.

The reopening of schools was deferred by 14 days to December 15 in Mumbai and many other urban areas in Maharashtra due to the threat of the new Omicron variant of COVID-19.