BENGALURU: Now, women passengers can travel in state government buses under the Shakti scheme by producing their local domicile proof on their phone using the Digilocker app. This does away with the earlier necessity of having to carry a hard copy of their IDs (original or photocopy).
Women passengers across Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC), and North West Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) had repeatedly complained to the authorities that conductors were insisting on them buying tickets if they failed to carry original IDs or photocopies.
“Though there is a provision for women passengers to produce their IDs through the Digilocker app, many conductors were rejecting it and were insisting on hard copies. We had to keep the ID cards in the back case of our mobile phones as conductors would be in a hurry to verify the IDs and then issue zero tickets,” said Dhana Lakshmi, a KSRTC passenger.
Referring to the KSRTC Chief Traffic Manager’s letter dated November 3, KKRTC stated, “Despite the order that conductors can accept ID proofs either by hard copies (original or photocopy) and through Digilocker, we have been receiving complaints that some of the bus conductors are refusing to accept the proofs shown through Digilocker and are creating unwanted trouble to women passengers.”
Conductors should accept ID proofs through the Digilocker and ensure the RTC doesn’t get any complaints from women passengers, directions issued by KKRTC on November 11 read.