KSRTC sued for not halting at lady passenger's stop; ordered to pay Rs 8,000 to woman

Bengaluru: Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) was sued by a woman passenger for not halting at her stop and dropping her 400 metres away. The court ordered KSRTC to pay her a compensation of Rs 8,010 for the inconvenience caused.

It is said that the woman named Vijaya Bai, a resident of Urdigere Hobli boarded for Tumakuru from Bengaluru. She had informed the conductor that she wanted to get off at the HMT bus stop in Tumakuru. But the driver failed to stop the vehicle at HMT bus stop and halted 400 metres away from the spot.

However, the area was barricaded and she could not cross over to the other side of the road. She then had to take two autorickshaws by paying Rs 10 and Rs 50, respectively, to reach her destination.

Vijaya then called the KSRTC helpline for relief but as they did not help her, she approached the Tumakuru District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission.

She filed a complaint against KSRTC for deficiency of service and on July 29, 2019, the consumer court ordered Tumakuru divisional controller of KSRTC to refund Rs 10 towards Vijaya’s auto fare and pay compensation of Rs 10,000 and litigation cost of Rs 5,000 along with interest.

KSRTC appealed against the verdict before Karnataka State Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission in Bengaluru and said the bus Vijaya travelled on was a non-stop passenger with limited stops and she could not request the bus to stop in the middle.

But judges of the state forum stated that the conductor had issued a ticket for HMT bus stop to Vijaya Bai and they dropped a woman passenger in the middle of the road which is not right.

On July  28, 2021, the judges reduced the compensation amount to Rs 5,000 and the litigation amount to Rs 3,000. They also ordered that Rs 10 will have to be paid to the woman passenger within 60 days of the order.