Talking point:

Mobile phones, a boon to private bus conductors

Do private bus conductors issue tickets to passengers at their whims and fancies?

Office workers traveling to Mattakkuliya on route No. 145 were pleasantly surprised on August 23 evening at the inordinate haste tickets were issued to all and sundry. The tickets of arbitrary values by no means reflected the exact fare.

It was even more melodramatic to see the agitated conductor in animated conversation on his mobile phone with the caller at the other end. Lo and behold when the bus was stopped by checkers at a point, near Gal Palliya on Alutmawatha Road, Mutwal, the passengers were armed with tickets. The checker having inspected the conductor's license permitted the bus to continue its journey.

The ticket machine was duly put aside, thereafter, and the issue of tickets ceased forthwith.

One wag in the bus quipped, "Mobile phones, no doubt, are a boon for this mafia gang!"

Do these random checks serve any purpose?

Dee Jay