Chennai: There has been an increase in the memos issued and fines slapped fines on conductors of the Metropolitan Transportation Corporation (MTC).
While MTC officials have started enquiring about the memo issued to an Ayanavaram depot conductor after the checking squad found a difference of one rupee between the value of tickets sold by him and the amount collected, unions say this is not the first time but one of at least five such incidents happening every month.
“During peak hours, 100-120 passengers board the bus against its capacity of 83-85 sitting and 25 standing. At least 10 people don’t buy tickets and the conductor, caught in the hustle, fails to check everyone. When the checking squad finds this during inspection, they immediately initiate departmental action. Factors like overcapacity are not taken into account,” said K. Natarajan from Labour Progressive Federation (LPF).
Also, increments are cut and some workers are even suspended for not checking ID cards of pass holders. Here also, overcapacity is not considered.
Another common reason for issuing memo is not levying luggage charges or permitting inflammable material. If a passenger carries kerosene in his backpack, will the conductor who is busy collecting tickets and checking the IDs of more than 80 people, be able to check it?
K. Anbazhagan, joint secretary, Nethaji Transport Union alleged that this is one of the tactics used by the department to reduce expenditure and cope with losses.
In the one rupee-deficit incident, K. Siva, a conductor from Aynavaram depot, said he had mistakenly given a new two rupee-coin instead of a rupee to a passenger in a crowded MTC bus. He was asked not to report to work till the enquiry is completed.
In another incident, a conductor plying through route 51R was issued memo for not checking the identity card of a pass holder. Another conductor plying along route 56C was slapped with a penalty of Rs 46,000 for missing manual ticket bundles.
Free sr citizen passes can be renewed for three months
The renewal of free senior citizen passes to travel on MTC can now be done on a quarterly basis. In an official statement on Monday, MTC announced that the renewal of tokens and passes for the next three months would happen from March 21 — April 30 at 42 centers including bus stands and depots.
“They would function from 8:30 am — 1:30 pm and 2 — 7 pm. After the 40-day period, the centres will be closed for renewal till the next quarter,” said a senior MTC official.
