Chennai: A year ago, the Tamil Nadu transport department assured the Madras high court that the penalty for bus operators who overcharge passengers would be raised to 15,000. The truth is that the fine for such violations has not been increased and remain a mere 100, and the violations continue to go unchecked.
Private bus operators, who earn at least 30,000 per trip even on weekdays, simply pay the insignificant fine and resume operations without consequences. If that wasn’t enough, the case in the Madras high court last year revealed a bigger issue govt buses, too, are routinely overcharging passengers, blatantly disregarding fare tables.
K Kathirmathiyon, a transportation activist who filed the public interest litigation, pointed out that the authorities concerned had failed to take strict action against state transport corporations for fare overcharging. Every day, he pointed out, govt bus conductors collect lakhs of rupees through excess fares, yet the only penalty imposed is a ‘compounding fee,’ which ultimately benefits the govt’s own exchequer. As a result, there is no real deterrent for these repeated violations.
During the court proceedings, the transport department informed the bench that all regional transport officers (RTOs) and motor vehicle inspectors had been directed to intensify checks and take coercive action against excess fare collections. It also stated that the compounding fee was proposed to be increased to 15,000.
However, the court was unconvinced. Then Madras high court Chief Justice Sanjay V Gangapurwala remarked that merely imposing compounding fees would not solve the issue. While such penalties may address occasional overcharging, habitual violators would not be deterred, he said and pointed out that strict action was necessary against repeat offenders.
“But till date, nothing has changed. Govt and private buses continue to cheat the public,” said Kathirmathiyon. In city and town bus services, an extra 3 is routinely collected per passenger, while private buses exploit passengers even further—recently charging 5,000 for a trip from Chennai to Coimbatore.
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