PRTC e-ticketing scam: Rs 1.44 cr siphoned off in 5 months, reveals inquiry

Tribune News Service

Patiala, July 27

The investigation into the e-ticketing scam of the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) has revealed that two advance bookers, who have already been booked for fraud, had siphoned off Rs 1.44 crore in five months.

The financial extent of the scam may widen, as the inquiry officer is still to check the older records.

The state-run transport corporation has already written to the Bathinda SSP to take action in the matter. Besides, the Bathinda Genaral Manager has been shifted for a fair probe. —Poonamdeep Kaur, PRTC MD

“We have only checked the records from December last year to May. It is a tedious process, as we have to manually check the records,” said an officer privy to the investigation.

Earlier, the scam was confined to the buses associated with the Bathinda depot. The further investigation has revealed that ticket money was siphoned off at four other depots as well.

The advance bookers have been booked under Sections 420 and 409 of the IPC.

Last month, it came to light that some PRTC employees, attached with the booking branch, had allegedly been regularly “deleting” the data of punched tickets from the electronic ticket machines (ETMs). All this was happening in case of stationary buses at the Bathinda bus stand, where tickets were issued before these left the booths. The amount collected from the deleted data of tickets was reportedly not deposited with the PRTC chest.

The scam was unearthed when the PRTC reportedly found some irregularities in the balance sheet.

The transfer of Bathinda depot General Manager Raman Sharma is being seen as linked to the scam. The PRTC, however, claimed it was a routine matter as it had to transfer all GMs.

Poonamdeep Kaur, Managing Director, PRTC, said: “The state-run transport corporation has already written to the Bathinda SSP to take action into the matter. Besides, the Bathinda General Manager has been shifted for a fair probe.”

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