Bhubaneswar: The owner or conductor of buses plying on different routes in the State henceforth cannot deny any woman as the first passenger to enter buses. Violation will attract a penalty.
The State Transport Authority (STA), Odisha has written a letter to all Regional Transport Officers (RTOs) in this connection today.
“Permits are granted by STA / RTA to stage carriages on different routes to carry passengers on payment of bus fare as notified by this office. The owner or conductor of a stage carriage cannot deny any woman as the first passenger to enter into buses. Any deviation shall amount to a violation of permit conditions and punishable under Section 192A of M.V. Act, 1988,” reads the letter issued by the STA.
The STA issued the letter after social campaigner Ghasiram Panda filed a petition before the Odisha State Commission for Women alleging that women as the first passenger are not allowed to enter into buses.
The STA has directed RTOs to check stage carriages regularly and whenever it was detected that the owner/conductor of a stage carriage denying women as the first passenger to enter into bus draw e-challan against the owner of said vehicle under Section 192A of M.V. Act, 1988.
