I was travelling by a bmtc bus today morning, and was witness to some harassment & corruption!
I got onto a 304 from KRPuram, to go towards Hoodi around 7.30AM. The bus number was KA01 FA 831. Half way through, ticket checkers got into the bus.
There was a lady in the front, who was traveling without ticket. When she was asked for ticket, she said, she had given the fare, but was not issued a ticket.
The checker started abusing the conductor. They stopped the bus, arguing among each other. The lady claimed to have given the money. The conductor denied that. And the checker was shouting on both the commuter, and the conductor.
Finally, the checker wanted to take the bus to the station (i dont know if it is the bus station, or the police station). He didnt allow the driver to stop in the next stop, saying it has to go to the station with all the passengers.
Passengers protested saying many of us had to report for work. Finally, some money exchanged hands b/w the conductor and the checker, and he allowed to stop the bus.
Some ten of us got out, and walked back a kilometer to get to our workplaces.
Here are some observations from the incident :
1) The checker never asked the lady as to why she didnt collect the ticket. Sometimes conductors take a reduced charge, and dont issue tickets, especially for short distances.If that is the case the commuter needs to be fined as well. I guess they have provision to collect upto Rs500/- as fine for ticketless travel. (I have paid that fine once, while travelling with an expired BMTC ID card. It was abt a week after it expired)
2) It seemed to me that the lady was lying. I vaguely remember she saying pass, when the conductor came with tickets. But even in that case, fault lies with the conductor as well, for not having checked the pass.
3) I was shocked by the total disregard for the commuters from the part of the checker. It seemed to me that he was putting pressure on the conductor to bribe him, by not allowing the bus to stop in the designated bus stop, when there were quite a few people to get down.
4) The checker definitely harrassed the conductor. The way he was shouting at the conductor was humiliating. But, So far, that is the way I have seen checkers behave!
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