Karwar: The Consumer Court has ordered lady conductor of a bus to pay a penalty of Rs 5,000 to a passenger for leaving him half way through his destination. The conductor has also been asked to pay another Rs 5,000 to the passenger, which he claimed to have lost due to the negligence of the conductor.
The court opined that once passengers boards the bus, their security and safety is the responsibility of the conductor.
Background
In March 2016, Umakanth Bandekar was returning from Sirsi annual fair on NWKSRTC bus. The bus was specially arranged for the annual fair. It is said that the bus was stopped at a small restaurant at Bundal for tea and passengers were not informed about the stop. However, Bandekar had got off the bus to have tea, but to his dismay, the bus had proceeded leaving him behind. His bag, in which he had kept some important documents and Rs 5000 was lost. When he reached Ankola bus depot and inquired the bus conductor Hemavathi HM about the same, she was arrogant and also hurled abuses at Bandekar in front of public.
Irked by her behaviour, Bandekar moved Consumer Court. He filed case against depot manager and the conductor.
In the court, the conductor said that the bus does not stop at Bundal, but since the tyre of the bus had problem, the bus had to be stopped. The NWKSRTC Sirsi division officers did not come in support of the conductor. Hence the court held her guilty and imposed penalty of Rs 5000 and also directed her to reimburse to Bandekar the amount he lost due to her negligence within a month.