COIMBATORE: Even after Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay launched the Vettri Payanam scheme in Chennai on Friday morning, female passengers in Coimbatore said that conductors collected fares from them on some routes on the same day.
Female passenger K Sumathi from Tiruppur told TNIE that she came with her family to the Gandhipuram town bus stand to visit the Maruthamalai Murugan Temple for darshan. She said they boarded an ultra-low-floor bus (TN 38 N 3802) on route number 70 at around 12.15 pm.
"The conductor started collecting fares from female passengers and issuing them tickets. I asked him about it, saying that the government had announced that women could travel free of cost on all town buses from October 2 (Friday). I also told him that the Chief Minister had inaugurated the Vettri Payanam scheme in Chennai. The conductor said that, for the time being, women passengers had to pay the fare and obtain tickets, and that free travel for women would be implemented from the next shift," she said.
She said that, with no other option, she paid Rs 125 for five female passengers to travel to Maruthamalai. She added that, like them, around 50 female passengers might have purchased tickets by paying the fare even after the scheme was implemented.
Another woman passenger in Coimbatore also posted a short video on social media, saying that she had travelled on an ultra-low-floor bus from Malumichampatti to the Milk Gate stop on the Pollachi route at around 11.10 am. She alleged that the conductor had collected a fare of Rs 13 from her and another woman passenger.
In the video, she further lamented that, as per the announcement that women could travel free of cost on all town buses, she boarded the bus believing that she would not have to pay. However, she said that the conductor collected the fare from them, which left her disappointed.
Coimbatore Consumer Voice secretary N Logu said that, since the launch of the scheme, women and transgender persons should be allowed to travel free of cost on town buses. However, he alleged that conductors collecting fares from them was a violation of the norms.
He further alleged that the TNSTC had failed to clarify from when women could travel free of cost on buses on Friday, attributing this to the corporation's lethargy.
He also pointed out that such incidents had occurred not only in Coimbatore but also in several other places, including Chennai.
When contacted, an officer from TNSTC said that some conductors might have collected fares from women as their work shifts ended in the afternoon. He added that he would look into the issue.