Publicize App Feature On Citizens' Complaints Against Non-Compliance Of Road Standards On Pedestrian Safety: Kerala High Court To NHAI

The Kerala High Court recently directed the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to give publicity to the newly introduced feature in its mobile application 'Rajmargyatra' that permits citizens to submit grievances under the head 'Non-conformity regarding Indian Roads Congress Standards for the Pedestrians.'The Division Bench of Chief Justice Nitin Jamdar and Justice Syam Kumar V.M. was seized with two public interest litigations. One of the PILs (WP(C) No. 20485 of 2024) sought various reliefs, including a direction to the State of Kerala, the NHAI and the Kerala Road Safety Authority to comply with the guidelines issued by the Indian Road Congress with respect to pedestrian-friendly measures.The Indian Road Congress (IRC) is a body of engineers, which has laid down various guidelines for road and pedestrian safety.During the course of the proceedings, the Court had felt that it would be more beneficial if the NHAI comes up with a grievance redressal/feedback mechanism to resolve issues on its own rather than a petition being filed before Court regarding non-compliance with the guidelines for each stretch of road. This was recorded in its order dated August 8.Subsequently, the NHAI filed an affidavit stating that a mobile application 'Rajmargyatra' was developed by it as a citizen-centric digital platform that provides information regarding safety features, live updates, real-time access to relevant data, etc. It also enables users to upload geo-tagged photographs or video evidence in support of complaints relating to the condition of roads.Based on the submission, the Court had directed the petitioner to submit a complaint on the app. Thereafter, the petitioner told the Court that the application was not user friendly and does not effectively address any grievance except toll collection. The Court had then suggested that a separate app would be needed to address these issues or in the alternative, a substantial part of the app has to dedicated for this purpose. In its November 6 order, the Court insisted that instead of raising grievances related to non-conformity with the standards set by the Indian Road Congress under the field 'Potholes and other maintenance issues' as suggested by the NHAI, a specific field can be added.Subsequently, on December 11, the NHAI informed the Court that the afore suggestion has been incorporated in the app. Later, the petitioner submitted a complaint through the said app after its modification.On hearing the same, the Court opined that this new feature requires proper publicity and directed the NHAI to do so.“It appears that the mobile application of the National Highways Authority of India has finally been made accessible for registering complaints regarding the absence of requirements specified by the Indian Roads Congress, after the passing of various orders… The entire endeavour in directing the National Highways Authority of India to develop this feature in the application is to make a grievance redressal forum available to citizens, instead of requiring them to approach this Court for directions. For that purpose, the National Highways Authority of India shall give adequate and wide publicity to the new feature introduced in the application and shall place a progress report in that regard on record before the next date of hearing.”The matter is next posted on January 6.Case No: WP(C) No. 20485 of 2024 and connected caseCase Title: Prasad Somarajan v. State of Kerala and Ors. and connected caseCounsel for the petitioners: A. Aruna, P.V. Uttara S. GopakumarClick to Read/Download Interim Order dated 19.12.2025Click to Read/Download Interim Order dated 11.12.2025Click to Read/Download Interim Order dated 06.11.2025Click to Read/Download Interim Order dated 08.08.2025

Publicize App Feature On Citizens' Complaints Against Non-Compliance Of Road Standards On Pedestrian Safety: Kerala High Court To NHAI

K. Salma Jennath

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