Motor Vehicle Legislation and Conductor Duties
This domain tests the legal foundation of the conductor's job: the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988, the Central Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989, the applicable State Motor Vehicles Rules, and the conditions printed on the stage carriage permit. Questions probe who may lawfully act as a conductor, which documents must be carried and produced, and which duties the statute places on the conductor personally rather than on the driver.
Who may act as a conductor
- A conductor's licence issued by the Regional Transport Office acting as licensing authority is required to act as conductor of a stage carriage; State rules exempt certain small vehicles.
- The licence is personal, time-limited and liable to suspension or revocation for misconduct or offence.
- Carry it on duty and produce it on demand before police, RTO or authorised checking staff.
- A conductor's licence is not a driving licence, and holding it confers no right to drive the bus.
Duties fixed by law
- Issue a ticket to every passenger on payment of the correct fare and collect the fare only against a ticket.
- Refuse boarding to persons who are drunk, carrying offensive or hazardous goods, or where the vehicle is already at permitted capacity.
- Do not permit travel on the roof or running board, or travel beyond permitted seating and standing capacity.
- Maintain order, protect passengers from injury, and assist the elderly, disabled and pregnant.
- Render aid and report an accident to the nearest police station without delay, and report offences committed in the vehicle.
- Obey lawful directions of police and transport officials; the vehicle must obey traffic signs and signals.
Worked example
A checking squad boards mid-route. The conductor has collected cash from four passengers but issued tickets to only two. Reasoning: cash held without a matching ticket is unaccounted revenue and is treated as a ticketing offence and a permit violation; the conductor cannot argue the passengers were "about to pay" once cash is in hand, because collection and issue must be simultaneous.
Traps that cost marks
Assuming conductor duties arise from company custom rather than statute; confusing the driver's duty to report an accident with the conductor having no duty at all; and believing the conductor may drive the bus when the driver is briefly absent.