HYDERABAD: The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) was rapped by the Consumer Forum, Hyderabad, for failing to fulfil its obligations in providing compensation to a Navya CAT card holder. The complainant, Samudrala Padma, a 40-year-old from Nalgonda, stated that her husband, who had passed away, had Navya CAT card and he died in an accident while he was travelling in an RTC bus. He had brought the card which was valid till January 26, 2016, that had benefits such as 10 per cent discount in travels and a Rs 1,75,000 compensation in case he dies in an accident in an RTC bus. Ms Padma was the nominee for the card. A few months before his death, the husband had renewed his card increasing the compensation to Rs 2 lakh.
The complainant was travelling in an APSRTC bus from Hyderabad to Devarakonda on October 2015. While the bus reached Anneboinapally village at 12.40 am, the bus met with an accident with a DCM van whose driver was later booked for rash driving. The deceased had suffered multiple fractures before succumbing to his death. After performing the cremation rituals, the complainant visited the TSRTC office to switch the card to her name. However, she was allegedly denied permission despite submitting all the required documents such as the death certificate, post-mortem report, FIR among others.
The TSRTC contended that they were not aware when the deceased boarded the bus and could not be sure about his date of travel. They further stated that the accident occurred not due to the negligence of the bus driver and one of their bus workers also died in the same accident. The forum observed that the complainant had produced enough proof to furnish that her husband died in the accident involving the aforementioned RTC bus.
Similarly, after careful inspection, the forum also stated that the card of the deceased was renewed before his death, increasing the compensation value to Rs 2 lakh. The forum ruled in favour of the complainant and stated that it was the negligence of the TSRTC in not providing the required support to the widow and ordered the Corporation to pay Rs 2 lakh to the card holder and also a compensation of Rs 25,000 with an interest rate of 9 per cent per annum since 2016, along with Rs 3,000 towards other costs.
