MIR Case # 2

Suspension of a Conductor

Galaxy Road Transport Corporation was established in 1950s to provide smooth public commuting facility in a big metro. The Corporation introduced an incentive scheme in 1996. Thereby, a bus crew would get the incentive bonus if the income of the bus during a particular day in a particular route crossed the standard amount of collection. The standard amount for all the routes were fixed by the administration on the basis of average income in the preceding year in the respective routes, which were designated by numbers. The crew would get one percent of the excess amount over and above standard amount. The collections of the Corporation increased phenomenally after the introduction of new incentive scheme. The bus crew began to take extra care in clearing all the passengers awaiting bus for their journey. Prior to this, the bus crew never allowed the passengers over and above the seating capacity. The management was well aware of overloading but never raised the issue with the bus crew.

The other day, a bus was plying on Route No. 439. There was heavy traffic. Against the seating capacity of 54 passengers, double the number had boarded the bus. In a huff, the bus conducted urged the passengers to buy tickets who already possessed one. It was becoming quite tough for him to know whether a passenger has already bought the ticket. Many a time, the passengers snubbed him. However, there were a number of passengers who purchased the ticket twice, thinking probably they did not have the ticket in the first place. Having struggled a lot for selling the tickets, after a point he presumed that all the passengers must have got the ticket.

Soon the Checking Staff stopped the bus. They found that five old passengers in all had not purchased the ticket. They immediately issued tickets and collected penalty from them. All of them said that they could not buy tickets because of the rush and they had intended to get the tickets once the crowd thinned. The Checking Staff suspended the Bus Conductor.

The Bus Conductor informed the Trade Union about his suspension over phone. The Trade Union leaders met the Depot Manager and explained the matter to him. They urged the Depot Manager to revoke the suspension as the bus conductor was acting in good faith. However, the Depot Manager refused to revoke the suspension and the Trade Union called for a wild cat strike. The Traffic was affected badly and the commuters suffered a lot due to the sudden strike.

The Strike continued for almost a week. Soon, the trade unions of other bus depot started coming in their support. Everyday the corporation was loosing lakhs of rupees in collection. Ultimately, the General Manager of the Corporation instructed the Depot Manager to take immediate steps and resolve the issue. Then the Depot Manager called the Trade Union to discuss the matter again. Suspension order was withdrawn and bus crew returned to report on duty.

Case Questions:
1. How do you view the disciplinary procedure followed in this case in punishing the conductor?
2. If you were the checking staff, how would you handle the case?
3. If you were the depot manager, how would you handle the case?