BENGALURU: A man took exception to Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) refusing to refund the Rs 300 extra fare it had charged him for a journey during non-peak period.
He approached a consumer court, which recently ordered the state transporter to refund the excess fare and also pay a compensation of Rs 5,000 for causing him trouble.
Umesh S, of Sullia taluk in Dakshina Kannada, had on January 7, 2019, booked two tickets for a non-AC KSRTC sleeper bus for Rs 1,500 to travel from Sullia to Bengaluru on January 24, 2019. But because of a family emergency, he was forced to cancel the tickets within a few days and received a refund after the deduction of cancellation fee of Rs 290. With his personal situation improving, on January 10, 2019, he rebooked the tickets for the same day by the same bus, only to be surprised to find that the fare for two tickets was only Rs 1,200 the second time.
He approached KSRTC’s division controller of Puttur district, Dakshina Kannada, and raised the issue of difference in ticket prices despite the travel date falling in a non-peak and non-season period. On January 16, 2019, Umesh applied for a refund of Rs 300 but the KSRTC authorities didn’t bother to respond to his petition. With more attempts to get back his money failing, he served the utility with a legal notice on March 16, 2019. But with the authorities refusing to budge, Umesh finally approached the Dakshina Kannada District Consumer Disputes Redressal Commission on February 13, 2021, with a complaint against KSRTC’s division controller of Puttur.
Umesh’s lawyer presented his claim, while the KSRTC attorney argued that the passenger had rushed to the consumer forum despite the transport corporation assuring him of the Rs 300 refund. He further stated that the fare difference for the same date and same bus was due to a computer software flaw in the booking system of KSRTC and the agency had asked Umesh to provide his bank details to make the money transfer but he had failed to comply.
In court proceedings lasting over nine months, judges of the consumer court noted that KSRTC had accepted the flaw in the ticketing software but decided to initiate a refund to the passenger only after he sent the transporter a legal notice and not after he first approached it for his rightful refund. This shows that the transport utility officials don’t care about their customers and this attitude amounts to deficiency in service.
The court ruled that the division controller of KSRTC, Puttur division, must refund an amount of Rs 300 with interest to Umesh apart from paying him a compensation of Rs 5,000.
