Bhubaneswar: Denying woman as the first passenger to enter into the bus will attract penalty, warned the State Transport Authority (STA), Odisha on Friday.
In a letter to all Regional Transport Officers, the STA said that the owner or conductor of a stage carriage cannot deny any woman as the first passenger to enter into buses.
“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 women as first passenger to enter into buses”, the letter reads.
Any deviation shall amount to violation of permit conditions and punishable under Section
192A of M.V. Act, 1.988.
“You are therefore, requested to check stage carriages regularly and whenever it was detected that the owner or conductor of stage carriage denying woman as first passenger to enter into bus, e-challan may be drawn against the owner of said vehicle under Section 192A of M.V. Act, 1988 and report compliance”, the letter added.
The STA issued the letter after one 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.