Hyderabad, March 17: It’s common to see passengers and bus conductors arguing over a few ‘coppers and currency.’ Most passengers leave it at that. But a 62-year-old man took it further by fighting for his “change” of Rs 44 for a little over three years.
M Dayanand, a senior citizen, dragged the APSRTC to the Hyderabad District Consumer Forum after a woman conducter refused to return his Rs 44. The forum on Tuesday directed the APSRTC to shell out Rs 3,000! L Kedarachary, president of the forum, said there was a deficiency in providing service by the APSRTC and thus the complainant, was liable to a refund of Rs 44 , compensation of Rs 2,000 and Rs 1,000 in costs. The order is to be complied within four weeks.
Dayanand said in his petition that he had paid Rs 50 to the bus conductor when he boarded the bus to go from ECIL to Secunderabad. The cost of the ticket was Rs 6 but the conductor did not return the change and instead, made a note about the balance on the back of the ticket.
After getting down at his stop, Dayanand requested the conductor to return his change. “But the conductor abused me with the help of the driver. and asked to me to collect it from the depot manager,” he said in his plea.
—-Agencies