Online bus booking portal faces action

Case lodged under Motor Vehicles Act

The Transport Department has initiated legal proceedings against a prominent online bus booking platform for allegedly issuing tickets for buses that ply illegally in the Capital.

A senior official from the department said that a case had been registered against redBus under provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act. “It [redBus] is an agent for booking tickets for public service buses and for soliciting customers for such vehicles. But an agent like redBus cannot issue tickets. The department is looking into the operation of buses on the portal,” the official said.

Just an ‘intermediary’

A spokesperson from the portal, however, claimed that redBus was merely an “intermediary”. “The bus operators directly bill customers. redBus only acts as a technology provider,” the spokesperson added.

The Transport Department has launched a drive and is impounding buses plying illegally across Delhi. “We found that most of these buses were contract carriage buses, which can be booked as a whole. However, the operators were issuing tickets and using these as stage carriages, which is gross violation of the Motor Vehicles Act,” said the official.

‘Being singled out’

The company, however, claimed that the operators listed on its website provide an undertaking that they have the requisite permits. It is not redBus’ jurisdiction to physically verify this, it said.