Ticketless travel brings in windfall in Chennai

July 30, 2014 09:04 am | Updated 09:11 am IST - CHENNAI:

Ticket checkers have been deployed at key bus stops. Photo: R. Vetri

Ticket checkers have been deployed at key bus stops. Photo: R. Vetri

Ticketless travellers might be a headache for staff on Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) buses, but they have also brought in over Rs. 41 lakh in the last six months.

Between January and June this year, MTC ticket checkers booked 23,322 passengers. The highest monthly collection was over Rs. 8 lakh in January. “Week-long raids were conducted every month,” said an MTC source.

The MTC earns over Rs. 2 crore per day from the around 55 lakh passengers who travel in its over 3,700 buses. According to officials, checking inspectors have been deployed at important bus termini including Anna Salai, Mylapore, Mandaveli and Guindy.

The problem is more serious in localities in north Chennai as footboard travel is rampant there, say conductors. “Now, ticket inspectors are seen even in small bus stops,” said a conductor.

They say most of the defaulters are youngsters. “In crowded buses, nearly 90 per cent of the defaulters avoid purchasing the ticket deliberately. A few others keep speaking on the phone and forget,” said K. Sekar, MTC’s CITU union general secretary. He said that the problem is bound to increase once the handheld GPS machines are introduced in all the buses.

“The machines take eight seconds to generate one ticket. In ordinary buses, it would be difficult for conductors to distribute tickets to everyone. Many are bound to use the crowd as a cover to avoid purchasing tickets,” he added.

Commuters, however, state there has been an improvement in the attitude of some conductors. “Now, some of them come to our seat to give the tickets. So there is no reason to blame them for commuters not purchasing the tickets,” said K. Saradha, a commuter.

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