The Hindu : Tamil Nadu / Chennai News : Fined Rs. 600 even before the next bus stop

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Sep 09, 2004

Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu - Chennai

Fined Rs. 600 even before the next bus stop

By Our Staff Reporter

CHENNAI, SEPT. 8. Hemant and Neeraj Upadhyay would rather not remember their first day in Chennai.

The two teachers had to shell out Rs. 600 on the charge of ticketless travelling in a Metropolitan Transport Corporation bus on Monday, even as the two argued that they boarded the crowded bus only at the previous stop and were waiting for the conductor to turn to them for issuing tickets.

The Upadhyays boarded a 17 D bus at the College Road stop around 1.45 p.m. to go to Central railway station. "We had just finished a check-up at Apollo Hospitals," Neeraj said.

Checking inspectors of the MTC "caught" them near the rear entrance. They were asked to get off the bus, taken to a van standing nearby where inspectors asked the two to pay up Rs. 1,000 as fine for ticketless travel. "We said that we boarded the bus at the previous stop barely a few minutes ago. Our arguments took us nowhere as we did not know the local language. They also threatened to take us to the police station," Hemant said.

A round of haggling brought the fine amount down to Rs. 600 and the checking inspectors gave them six penalty tickets of Rs. 100 each. They also got a statement signed by the duo that they were caught travelling without tickets. "We came here for treatment and did not want to get into any unnecessary trouble. So we signed the paper," Neeraj said.

Being a holiday, there were no officials at the MTC headquarters on Monday to take their complaint. When contacted, MTC officials said the squads conducted periodical checks at the `stages' along the bus routes.

The checking inspector had the right to levy Rs. 500 fine on passengers who did not have tickets.

However, the inspectors could be asked to make enquiries before slapping fines on passengers to prevent such occurrences, officials said.

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