Coimbatore Consumer Cause (CCC) has filed a public interest litigation (PIL) in Madras High Court against excess ticket fare allegedly levied in government and private buses.
In a release on Tuesday, K. Kathirmathiyon, CCC secretary, said that Justice M. Sathyanarayanan and Justice N. Seshasayee directed the State government to file its reply within two weeks and posted the matter to December 6.
Mr. Kathirmathiyon alleged that buses operated by Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) and private operators collected excess ticket fare, higher than the fare approved by Regional Transport Authority, who is the District Collector, or State Transport Authority. “Such approved fare tables must be exhibited inside the buses for the information of passengers,” he said.
He further alleged that the authorities did not penalise those buses that did not comply despite the provisions available in Central Motor Vehicles Rules to “suspend and cancel the permits of the buses.”
Recalling the observations made by the Madras High Court in 2018 against the excess fare by private bus operators, Mr. Kathirmathiyon claimed that “the problem of excess fares is much more” in TNSTC buses.
