A Bengaluru commuter's complaint on social media regarding a lack of change received from a BMTC bus conductor has ignited a debate about fare-related difficulties faced by passengers.
Sharing a picture of his bus ticket, Nithin Krishna wrote on X, "I lost my Rs 5 as this conductor didn't have even Re 1 change to return. Is there any solution to this?"
In another post, he asked, "Should I lose my money every time, urging the authorities to either provide the conductors with sufficient change before the beginning of a trip or else use technology to make online payments."
Acknowledging the issue, the official X account of BMTC responded to the complaint with a generalised statement: "Your complaint registered docket number BMTC2024003258."
Mr Krishna's post went viral, receiving over 72,000 views and sparking an online debate. Some commenters suggested carrying the exact fare to avoid inconvenience for both passengers and conductors. "The only solution is to keep exact change for a hassle-free travel experience on public transport, and will not create any inconvenience both to the respective bus conductor and the public," a user wrote.
Another user commented, "Pay online. Stop crying on the social media."
"I recently travelled in the Outer Ring Road, a couple of times, and they had UPI. Not sure if you asked them. UPI is the permanent solution," the third user commented.
However, a section of the internet supported Mr Krishna's concerns.
A user wrote, "This is a routine issue. Also, seen at Metro stations. Generation of black money. Some kind of voucher system can be introduced, which can be redeemed on the next journey or converted to cash from depots."
"What's stopping BMTC from giving UPI on non-AC buses? It will solve a majority of change issues. The conductors and passengers both suffer due to this mismanagement by the BMTC officials," another said.
