Uttarakhand: Passengers were waiting for the bus, the driver did this – the department took this action

The driver of the rural depot of Uttarakhand Transport Corporation coming from Chandigarh to Dehradun found it difficult to stop the bus for the passengers standing on the way. On the complaint received from passengers over phone, Divisional Manager Sanjay Gupta has booked the driver and instituted a departmental inquiry against him. Also, a warning has been issued to the drivers of all the depots that buses should be stopped for passengers standing at mid-stop on long distance routes.

Divisional Manager Sanjay Gupta said that a bus of rural depot was coming from Chandigarh to Dehradun on Wednesday, on which driver Sukhwinder Singh was posted. On Thursday, he received a call from a passenger in which he was told that eight passengers were standing near Kulhal and he also signaled to stop the bus, despite this the driver did not stop the bus. It was told that there was space in the bus also.

Taking cognizance of the matter, when the Divisional Manager conducted a preliminary investigation and found the complaint to be true, he ordered the driver to be freed from the route. On Friday, when the Divisional Manager checked the route form of a rural depot bus going from Dehradun to Delhi, the driver found out that when the bus left from Dehradun ISBT, there were only 14 passengers in it, out of which five passengers were from Roorkee bus stand. Biharigarh, Chhutmalpur, Bhagwanpur etc. were lying on the way, but the driver did not stop the bus anywhere and kept driving the empty bus.

Despite being a passenger between Meerut and Delhi, the driver did not stop the bus and caused financial loss to the corporation by running the bus empty. The Divisional Manager has also ordered action against this bus driver. Also, a warning has been issued to all the drivers, in which it was told that if any complaint is received about not stopping the bus in future, the driver will be transferred to a remote depot.

Fine will be imposed on contracted bus operator

The divisional manager said that if the contracted bus driver does not stop the bus despite being a passenger, then his bus operator will be fined. A fine of Rs 5,000 will be imposed on the first complaint, Rs 10,000 on the second complaint and Rs 20,000 on the third complaint and this will be deducted from the payment. If the complaint is received for the fourth time, the bus contract will be terminated.