Police to Mandate ID Cards for Private Bus Staff, Only Verified Personnel to Drive

Kochi: Ernakulam City Police Commissioner Kaliraaj Maheshkumar has announced that special identity cards will be made mandatory for all staff working in private buses, including drivers. Background checks, including criminal antecedents, will be carried out before issuing the cards, which will be given only to those who clear the verification. Only card-holders will be permitted to operate buses, the Commissioner said, following a meeting convened with bus operators' associations and workers' representatives.

The process is targeted for completion within 15 days. A two-day training class or workshop will be organised for employees to improve their conduct. A digital punching system will replace the earlier manual punching system to curb reckless racing between buses. Action will also be taken against the practice of leasing out buses to third-party operators.

The measures follow a controversy in which a private bus cleaner who had blocked and threatened a car passenger — and subsequently attacked an ASI who came to detain him — was released on bail, embarrassing the police. The incident added to mounting public anger over reckless racing, accidents and misconduct by certain bus staff, and criticism that police had failed to act. The new reforms have been announced in the wake of this backlash.