Jeypore: The Koraput District Consumer Forum Wednesday penalised a private bus owner for charging excess fare from a passenger.
Consumer court chairman Bipin Bihar Mohapatra and member Nibedita Rath asked the bus owner to return the excess amount of `325 with addition of interest at 12 per cent and pay `5,000 as compensation to the commuter. Besides, the court also asked the bus owner to pay `2,000 as legal expenses by September 20. State and district transport departments have been asked to take measures to ensure such incidents are not
repeated.
According to reports, Nrusingha Prasad Patra of Nuasahi in Jeypore town had bought three tickets November 8, 2014, from Grill Tour and Travels, an agency in Jeypore, to go to Bhubaneswar on a bus named Royal Star. Patra paid the tour operator `1,650 for the journey. Similarly, his daughter also bought a ticket from a counter in Bhubaneswar paying `550 to return home the same month on the same bus. Patra realised he and his daughter paid `65 more on each ticket as the tariff fixed by the government was `485 each.
He moved the consumer court making state commerce and transport commissioner, district transport officer and president of Bus Owners’ Association as parties.
The court asked the department to take action against the bus owners who have been charging more from passengers on the Koraput-AP-Bhubaneswar route.
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