Consumer body serves notice on Collector over bus fare row

Coimbatore Consumer Cause has served legal notice on the District Collector - who is also the Regional Transport Authority (RTA) - and four other officials over delay in implementing the revised fare between Mettupalayam and the new bus stand on the Mettupalayam Road in Coimbatore.

Other respondents to the notice, which is dated June 13, are the Regional Transport Officer (RTO) of Coimbatore North, Joint Transport Commissioner (Coimbatore), Transport Commissioner (Chennai), and the Secretary of the Home Department, Government of Tamil Nadu.

The fare between Mettupalayam Bus Stand and bus stand on Mettupalayam Road in the city was fixed at Rs. 13.5 in 2010 by the then District Collector.

This is Rs. 2.5 lesser than the fare of Rs. 16 for buses terminating at Gandhipuram, according to K. Kathirmathiyon, secretary of Coimbatore Consumer Cause.

But this is not followed and passengers were paying Rs. 16.

He told

The Hindu that the notice was served as there was neither any action on the issue despite raising it in the road safety committee meetings over the years, nor reply for letters sent to the authorities concerned in this connection.

In the notice, the consumer body has asked the officials (respondents) to ensure that money swindled by the bus operators to the tune of several crore rupees is recovered from the operators.

“The money should be deposited in the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund. The money should be collected because it was illegally earned,” he said.

Mr. Kathirmathiyon said that their organisation will wait for a reply from authorities concerned for a week (till June 27) and file a writ petition at the Madras High Court stressing their demands.

It has asked the officials to ensure that money swindled by the bus operators to the tune of several crore rupees is recovered and deposited in the Chief Minister’s Public Relief Fund