‘No change? Get off’: Minister takes incognito bus rides in Bengaluru, gets reality check

When the conductor of a BMTC bus on the Hebbal-Nagashettyhalli route got a 100-rupee note from a passenger for a ticket on Saturday (July 11), he acted in the usual insolent manner as Bengaluru commuters have gotten used to now. He brusquely said he had no change and told the passenger to get off the bus. Only, the passenger concerned was none other than Transport Minister Byrathi Suresh, undercover.

That was not the only taste Suresh got of the plight of common commuters in India’s tech city. He travelled on several Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) buses like ordinary citizens on Saturday night, to experience first-hand the city’s public transport system. And he got a reality check that he won’t forget in a hurry.

Reality check for minister

Being asked to get off the bus because of a lack of change was not the only incident. In his only two-hour-long adventure, Suresh boarded more than 10 BMTC buses, and witnessed several incidents that commuters face regularly.

One bus driver reportedly did not bother to stop at the Fun World stop despite a passenger waiting to get off there. Suresh reportedly ordered both the driver and the conductor to be suspended at once.

Also read: Free bus travel: Karnataka’s 4 transport corporations run into deep trouble

Not only buses, the minister was witness to an auto driver trying to rip off a passenger as well. Once he got off at Nagashettyhalli, Suresh reportedly saw the auto-rickshaw driver arguing with the passenger, who refused to cough up Rs 36 unfairly since the fare meter displayed Rs 30. The driver relented only when the minister intervened.

The shocked minister ended his undercover inspection with action against at least two staff members and the announcement that more such surprise checks would continue across Bengaluru to stop such unruly and insolent behaviours by transport staff.