Chennai: Private bus owner, insurance firm to pay Rs 14 lakh to kin of mishap victim 

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published Feb 28, 2019, 2:34 am IST

In the petition Vijaya submitted that her husband, Panchatcharam had several businesses including real estate business.

Panchatcharam sustained grievous injuries and next day he died in the hospital. She said the accident took place due to the negligence of the bus driver. (Representational Image)

Chennai: The Motor Accident Claims Tribunal, Chennai, directed a private bus operator and a public sector insurance firm to pay a compensation of Rs 14 lakh to family members of a 57-year-oldbusinessman who died in a road accident.

In the petition Vijaya submitted that her husband, Panchatcharam had several businesses including real estate business. He was earning Rs 50,000 per month.

On September 15, 2015, at about 7 am, he was riding the motorcycle (bearing registration No. TN20 AW 7096) on Vallal MGR Salai, near Thiruvalluvar Salai Arch, Maraimalai Nagar. A bus, which was belonged to M/s.Sri Ganesh Travels, was being driven in a rash and negligent manner.

The bus rammed into the two-wheeler.

Panchatcharam sustained grievous injuries and next day he died in the hospital. She said the accident took place due to the negligence of the bus driver. Hence, M/s.Sri Ganesh Travels and the New India Assurance Co., Ltd., insurer of the vehicle, jointly and severally liable to pay compensation to the family members.

In the reply the insurance firm stated that the petition is false, frivolous, vexatious, not maintainable in law and in facts. The alleged accident happened only due to the rash and negligent riding of Panchatcharam. Hence, contributory negligence may be apportioned with a greater percentage against the motorcycle.

Chief Judge, Court of Small Causes, Chennai, R.Selvakumar said considering oral and documentary evidence, this court finds that the accident took place due to the rash and negligent driving of the bus driver.

In the result, the travels and insurance firm jointly and severally ordered to pay a sum of Rs 14 lakh to the petitioners with interest at the rate of 7.5 per cent, said the Chief Judge.

Chennai: Supermarket to pay Rs 8,000 for selling beyond MRP 

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published Mar 1, 2019, 2:38 am IST

The outlet sold the soaps under an offer, "Buy 3 get 1 free" for a price of Rs 120. 


The issue was rectified within a few days, after Sathyan sent a legal notice to the shop.

Chennai: The District Consumer Disputes Redressal Forum, Chengalpattu, Kancheepuram district, has directed a supermarket to pay compensation of Rs 8,000 for selling a popular soap for more than the maximum retail price to a resident, two years ago.

In the petition, M. Sathyan of Pallavaram submitted that he had purchased a bar of Chandrika soap from the Ayyanar Super Market. The outlet sold the soaps under an offer, "Buy 3 get 1 free" for a price of Rs 120. However, the shop collected Rs 169, which was above the Maximum Retail Price (MRP).

Sathyan alleged that the manufacturer was hand in glove with the shopkeepers by offering an attractive price outside the packet and the original price was mentioned in small letters on the wrapper.

He said the soap manufacturing company, 'The Wipro Consumer Care' Bengaluru and Shri Ayyanar Super Market in Pallavaram had cheated him by overcharging. He sought compensation of Rs 2 lakh from the company and the supermarket.

Denying the allegations, Wipro Consumer Care said that the company was not responsible for selling its product at more than the MRP mentioned on it. The supermarket accepted the mistake of affixing stickers of reduced prices of the soap sold. The issue was rectified within a few days, after Sathyan sent a legal notice to the shop.

The forum headed by president J Justin David said that Shri Ayyanar Super Market had committed the mistake while affixing the stickers, which amounts to negligence and deficiency of service. The forum directed the supermarket to pay the petitioner a compensation of Rs 8049 for collecting an excess amount and for causing mental agony.

Chennai: Bike taxis without proper commercial permit seized 

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published Mar 1, 2019, 2:41 am IST

Meanwhile, drivers of the bike taxi service are protesting as their means of livelihood have now been hit. 


 
he app, initially launched in Bangalore, was brought to Chennai in February and was a boon to commuters who required to go someplace quickly, and at nominal cost.

Chennai: Days after an app based bike taxi service was launched in the city, the police seized 10 vehicles for operating without obtaining necessary permits and put a hold on its functioning until appropriate permissions are acquired. Traffic police in KK Nagar seized two vehicles belonging to the app based service after it was found to be having private vehicle number plates.

 Claiming that it violates existing motor vehicle rules, an official said that both vehicles have been seized and notices issued to the firms running the apps. The app, initially launched in Bangalore, was brought to Chennai in February and was a boon to commuters who required to go someplace quickly, and at nominal cost. Meanwhile, drivers of the bike taxi service are protesting as their means of livelihood have now been hit. "The services were discontinued in Bangalore too. Why can't the government amend the Act," one driver said.

Kochi: HC order set to jack up private medical college fees 

DECCAN CHRONICLE.

Published Mar 1, 2019, 2:06 am IST

The court has asked the educational institutions to cooperate with the regulatory commission. 


 
The court order is a setback for nearly 4,000 students who have secured admissions in 21 private medical colleges in the state as they may be asked to pay more than Rs 4.85 lakh to Rs 5.65 lakh fixed by the regulatory commission for the academic year 2017-18.

Kochi: The High Court on Thursday quashed the order of the fee regulatory commission headed by Justice Rajendra Babu fixing the tuition fees structure for students in the private medical colleges of the state for the academic year 2017-18. The court asked the commission to fix the fees structure afresh within two months.

The court order is a setback for nearly 4,000 students who have secured admissions in 21 private medical colleges in the state as they may be asked to pay more than Rs 4.85 lakh to Rs 5.65 lakh fixed by the regulatory commission for the academic year 2017-18. The court observed that the fee fixed earlier was an interim measure.

The court issued the order on a batch of petitions filed by a slew of private medical colleges against the order of the fee regulatory commission. The private medical college managements have sought Rs 11-15 lakh as fees instead of the amount fixed by the regulatory commission. The existing fee structure, however, will remain in force till the fixation of the new fees by the commission.

The court has asked the educational institutions to cooperate with the regulatory commission. The court has also observed that all members of the fee regulatory commission should sign the order fixing the fee instead of two or three members doing it as was in the case of the earlier decision.

Kovai, Brindavan Exp trains lose 2 second-class seater coaches

In what can be conceived as a move to push passengers to opt for AC classes, the Southern Railway has removed two second-class seater coaches from Kovai and Brindavan Expresses.

Published: 28th February 2019 03:42 AM

By B Anbuselvan

Express News Service

CHENNAI: In what can be conceived as a move to push passengers to opt for AC classes, the Southern Railway has removed two second-class seater coaches from Kovai and Brindavan Expresses. Instead it has added two general coaches in these two trains on the pretext of catering to the unreserved passengers. 

The revised coach composition, which came into effect on Tuesday, has resulted in reducing number of second-class seater coaches to 12 as from 14 in the Kovai Express. Each coach has 108 seats. Now the train has lost 226 seats in second-class seater coaches which cost just `180 between Chennai and Coimbatore. The AC chair car fare is `665.

“Now passengers, who could not find seats in second-class seater coaches, will be left with no option but to choose chair car in Kovai Express or Chennai-Coimbatore Shatabdi Express. The minimum fare in Shatabdi starts at `950 (including `200 for catering charges),” said S Karthick, a regular commuter. 

This is not the first such attempt. Ever since the launch of Coimbatore-Chennai Duronto Express in 2013 which was later converted into Shatabdi Express, the Railways has been accused of increasing travel time of Kovai Express so as to increase the patronage for Shatabdi. “Until 2013, the train reached Central at 9.20 pm during its return journey from Coimbatore. Then, the arrival time was fixed at 9.45 pm and now it is 11 pm,” said train enthusiast R Madhan.

When contacted, officials denied the charges and attributed the decision to higher demand of unreserved passengers in the Chennai-Jolarpettai section. “No additional general coaches can be added without removing existing coaches as they already had 24 coaches. Based on the sale of unreserved tickets at enroute stations, general coaches are being added,” said the officials.

Madurai Bench of Madras HC orders interim stay on Madurai Kamaraj University sex scandal case

According to the senior counsel appearing for the litigant, there are several irregularities in the investigation conducted by the CB-CID.

  Published: 28th February 2019 02:26 PM 

 

Madurai Kamaraj University

By Express News Service

Dissatisfied with the investigation conducted by the CB-CID into the Madurai Kamaraj University (MKU) sex scandal, the Madurai Bench of Madras High Court ordered stay on all further proceedings in the case.

A division bench comprising Justices N Kirubakaran and SS Sundar passed the interim order while hearing public interest litigation filed by General Secretary of All India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) P Suganthi who sought transfer of the investigation of the case to Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).

According to the senior counsel appearing for the litigant, there are several irregularities in the investigation conducted by the CB-CID. He argued that the CB-CID obtained the call records of Nirmala Devi and conveniently examined only those persons to whom she had conversed after her attempt to lure the college girls and not those she was in touch with before the incident. It was a deliberate act on part of CB-CID as the latter would have easily helped them to throw light on who influenced the professor to commit the offence, stated the counsel.

He further pointed out that though more than 100 witnesses were examined during the investigation, only two persons, whose ranks were lower than Nirmala Devi herself, have been arrayed as accused by the CB-CID, not to mention that these two persons do not fit in the description given by Nirmala of very important higher officials of MKU being involved.


He prayed the Court to transfer the case to CBI under a special investigation team, so as to ensure fair investigation. Taking the above contentions into consideration, the Judges noted that though the CB-CID were in possession of the entire call records of Nirmala, no one who was in contact with her before the incident had been examined. 

Observing so, they stayed all further proceedings in the said case and issued a notice to Joint Director of CBI, Superintendent of Police of CB-CID South wing, Secretary of Devanga Arts College, Aruppukottai and the three accused persons, returnable before March 18. The Court also heard an impleading petition filed by one Nagalakshmi seeking a Court monitored inquiry into the scandal.

During the hearing, the judges raised questions to the government as to why Nirmala is kept in police custody for almost a year, even after the investigation has been completed. "While even murder accused are let out on bail after filing the charge sheet, what is the reason for keeping this accused in prison for such a long time," they questioned, adding that the act of CB-CID and the State was raising suspicion.

Nirmala Devi was arrested on April 16 on charges of attempting to lure four girl students of Devanga Arts College to extend sexual favours to some higher officials of MKU, after an audio clipping of her phone conversation with those students went viral in social media platforms. After an investigation, the CB-CID also arrested two more persons namely Murugan, an assistant professor in MKU and Karuppasamy, a research scholar. Karuppasamy and Murugan were granted bail by the Supreme Court recently.

(This story originally appeared on Edex Live)

Beware of bike taxi: You may be taken for a ride

Two weeks ago, Ola taxi drivers lodged a complaint with the Road Transport department that illegal bike taxis have increased in the city. 

Published: 01st March 2019 05:56 AM 

By Sahaya Novinston Lobo

Express News Service

CHENNAI: Have you taken a ride on a motorbike, using a bike taxi app, as you do on Ola and Uber? 

Then, little do you know that the bike taxi is illegal and there is no provision in the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicle rules for a bike taxi.

Two weeks ago, Ola taxi drivers lodged a complaint with the Road Transport department that illegal bike taxis have increased in the city. Hearing the plea of the taxi drivers, Chennai (North-West) RTO S Sridharan seized 10 vehicles that were booked through a popular bike rental app.

 “The risk factor in such bikes is high. Unlike Ola and Uber, where the drivers work on contract permit for a company, the bikers of rental apps have their own vehicles, with no accountability and safety to the rider,” said Sridharan.

“On Monday we booked a bike through the app and waited for the riders to arrive. The vehicle registration number that was given on the mobile app was different from the bike that arrived,” he added.


In the rental bike apps, most of the drivers are already working in private companies and surprisingly, some of them are already working for popular food delivery apps.

There are youngsters who depend on some income until they get salaried jobs. In order to make quick money, they are now getting into bike taxi apps not knowing it is illegal, said a police officer.
An individual taking a ride in a taxi is covered with insurance, road tax and proper permit, and moreover, if the driver tries to kidnap the person, it is easy to track the driver through documents that are accessed at the office of the company.

But in case of bikes, if the driver kidnaps the pillion-rider it will be much more difficult to trace since it is his own vehicle, said a Road Transport Officer from Coimbatore. 

“Not knowing that the bike taxi apps are illegal in Tamil Nadu, many silver-screen celebrities and social media influencers promote these apps and rides through their social media pages,” said a senior police officer. Around 20 bikes were seized by different Road Transport Officers in different parts of the city.

Meanwhile, the co-founder of a Hitch Biker app told Express that their bikers were not booked since it is a bike-sharing platform, which encourages hitchhiking to reduce the cost of the travel to a particular distance.

“We don’t have commission or salaried riders. If you are staying at Mylapore and intend to reach Central station, the app will show some drivers who are ready to drop you and the rider will have to bear the transport charge alone,” he added.