Passengers who play music on speaker on KSRTC buses to be deboarded

Three state-run transport corporations are sending a loud and clear message to passengers who create nuisance by playing music, videos at high volume on mobile phones: be prepared to be deboarded with no refund of tickets.

The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC) have issued circulars to their drivers and conductors on what needs to be done when they come across such violations.

The chief traffic manager of the North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) said a similar circular will be issued to their employees “to ban loudspeaker on phones” within the next two days.

In the state capital, the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation had issued a directive on the same lines in September 2019, though there was no mention of deboarding passengers.

But the three corporations have decided to crack the whip on the problem which is a common sight during daily commute.

The two circulars issued by KSRTC and KKRTC cited Section 94(1)(v) of the Karnataka Motor Vehicle Rules 1989. The section bars a passenger who “sings or plays upon any musical instrument or operates a transistor radio” and says “the driver or the conductor may require such person to alight from the vehicle forthwith and may stop the vehicle or keep it stationary until such person has alighted”.

The circulars said loud sounds through audio and video files played on mobile phones violate the law, and noted that a PIL has been filed in the Karnataka HC in this regard.

“The public travelling in buses has been found to be creating nuisance by playing songs...or watching news or cinema. The noise pollution is causing inconvenience to fellow passengers,” the circulars said.

The corporations told drivers and conductors to create awareness among such passengers.

“Such passengers should be requested not to use the phones to create inconvenience. If a passenger doesn’t heed, he/she should be deboarded from the bus for violating the motor vehicle rules. The bus should be stopped till the passenger gets off. Travel fare should not be returned to such passengers,” the circulars said.

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