Madras HC seeks report on missing ticket books in State transport corporations

CHENNAI: The Madurai Bench of the Madras High Court has directed the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Limited (TNSTC) to file a report on how many incidents of missing ticket books have been reported in the Transport Corporations across the State over the past five years, and on the steps taken by the management to prevent them.

Justice B Pugalendhi also directed the Corporation to examine possibilities of providing a safety box to conductors to avoid such incidents in future.

The Court issued the direction on a petition filed by UM Arulkumar of Ramanathapuram, a conductor with the Corporation, challenging the recovery of the face value of unused ticket books from his salary, contending that the settlement under Section 12(3) of the Industrial Disputes Act stipulates that no recovery can be made in cases of theft, robbery or accident.

The petitioner said that on 9th June 2026 ticket books went missing from the bus on which he was working. There was no locker facility inside the bus, he said, adding that he immediately lodged a complaint with the police and reported the incident to higher officials in the Corporation.

Despite this, the Corporation placed him under suspension and issued a charge memo. While the departmental proceedings were pending, the Thoothukudi branch manager ordered recovery of the face value (Rs 77, 855) of the unused ticket books from the petitioner’s salary. Aggrieved by this, the petitioner approached the Court.

After hearing, the Court observed that ticket books appeared to be lost or stolen often. “The petitioners contend that they do not have a safety locker and therefore lose these ticket books when the buses are parked in the bus stand and in the motels,” Justice Pugalendhi said.

The Court noted that similar incidents were reportedly taking place continuously. On the other hand, it said, the settlement under Section 12(3) of the Industrial Disputes Act stipulates that no recovery can be made in cases of theft, robbery or accident.

The Court therefore directed the Corporation to file the report and posted the matter for further hearing on November 2nd.