BENGALURU: The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has been facing a lot of criticism recently from daily commuters for a wide range of issues like not stopping at bus stops or conductors refusing to give back change. While a possible integration with the city police helpline for complaints related to harassment of women could help deal with one section of issues, several others remain unsolved, driving commuters away from the public transport service.
A short scan of their customer grievance mechanisms on the website as well as social media shows daily complaints of molestation, theft, misbehaviour by drivers and conductors, late departure of buses, no change returned by conductors and other issues. Buses not stopping at designated bus stops seems to be one of the major complaints that commuters continue to have with the BMTC, in spite of the corporation installing tracking devices and monitoring the movement of buses closely.
“BMTC buses do not follow any particular timetable. It’s their wish when they want to run. It’s my first-hand experience wherein I’ve been refused right at the bus depot saying that the bus will leave after an hour or more because of lunch hour or their tea break,” said Arpita Chakraborty, a daily student commuter of BMTC.
Conductors are also regularly seen arguing with the commuters and not returning change even after being asked for it. Almost every day there are theft cases, half of which are not even reported or looked after. “I was travelling from Mathikere to Yelahanka and lost my wallet in the meantime. Even after asking the conductor to stop the bus or at least help me to look for my wallet, they told me that they can’t as it might cause a delay for other passengers,” said Antonio Jose D’silva, an IT professional.
Rosneara Khatun, a student, said, “One afternoon while I was travelling by BMTC, I saw a man, standing near the ladies section looking at every woman’s handbag. He also tried to remove a woman’s dupatta to reach her handbag. He saw me noticing him and quietly got down in the next stop.”
Conductors are also accused of never returning back the pending change or not providing a ticket on time. “I was once travelling from Shivajinagar to Doddabommasandra. The fare is `22. The bus started and three stops went by but the conductor didn’t give me the ticket even after asking him many times. Later, he took `15 and didn’t give me the ticket. And when I asked him, he asked me to give him the remaining `7,” said Aishwarya Rakesh, a student commuter.
Anupam Agarwal, Director, Security and Vigilance, BMTC said, “We do receive complaints about bus delays and conductor or driver misbehaviour. We also have a team called Sarathi, they are the line checking department and first respondents. First, our line checking team goes and verifies the issue and then the issue is further forwarded to the local police station. If there is any issue related to bus delay, operation, schedule or non-stoppage of the bus, those issues are attended by our depot manager and strict actions along with penalty are imposed on accused drivers or conductors.”