The lost property department of PMPML is ‘lost’
6 Apr, 2012
An application filed under the RTI Act has revealed that only 283 goods were deposited with the Lost Property department of the PMPML by the conductors and drivers from January 2011-January 2012. Over 12 lakh passengers travel in the 1,407 buses owned by PMPML daily and instances of passengers forgetting such articles on the bus or in the station area are not uncommon. Out of these 283, only 46 items could be returned to owners after the mandatory charge of Rs 30 from the claimant as registration fees for lost property for returning the found goods. The RTI application also revealed that the PMPML does not keep a record of the complaints of lost goods received by the Lost Property helpline. Such a practice of taking down the complaint, checking with the bus conductor / depot manager concerned and noting down the action taken would help all commuters.
The data brings to light that there is a disproportionately low number of goods deposited with the Lost Property department viv-a-vis the huge number of commuters that travel in PMPML buses daily. An organisation can use the data to reward the honest conductors to increase the possibility of finding any bag, purse, mobile or any other article missed in a PMPML or state transport bus.