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A Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) conductor was issued a warning notice by his higher-ups, all because he refused to give her a pen to sign on her bus pass.

 
The incident triggered a flash strike at BMTC depot 10 (Hennur) on Tuesday morning with conductors and drivers refusing to ply for
a short while.
 
The incident occurred at around 7.30 am on Sunday when techie, Nafiza, along with her younger sister, boarded a bus (route no. 302 A) in Shivajinagar to get back to her home in Kammanahalli. When the bus (KA 01 F8916) neared Cunningham Road, the conductor asked her to produce the daily pass. When she did, the conductor looked at it and ordered her to sign the pass (the signature of the holder of the pass is mandatory to prevent transfer or resale of pass to any another passenger).
 
“I requested the conductor to lend his pen as I was not carrying one on me,” Nafiza said. “It was a Sunday and there were hardly any passengers on the bus. He could have given me the pen, but he chose not to.”
 
Nafiza allegedly reacted with trivial comments to which the conductor allegedly said, ‘You beg for a pen from others’, before walking away. A fellow passenger, who witnessed the incident, then gave Nafiza a pen.
 
“Since it was a Sunday, I was not carrying my regular pass and bought a daily-pass,” Nafiza said. “There was no need for the conductor to order me to resort to begging,” Nafiza said.
 
She filed a complaint with the BMTC against the conductor on Monday.
 
The BMTC responded on Tuesday by issuing a memo to Munegowda, seeking an explanation on his behaviour.
 
In a show of support, Munegowda’s colleagues then staged a protest against the notice.
 
A conductor told Bangalore Mirror, “It is a difficult situation for us. A pen is very important to us as we have to make entries in the trip sheet before the bus reaches the next checking stage and also to write dues on the back of tickets. If we have to keep lending pens to all pass-buyers, we will not be able to work properly. It is the responsibility of the passengers to get pens as they are the ones who have to sign on the pass.”