The case surfaced at the fag-end of 2013 when the department’s internal inquiry pointed out that ticket collectors had failed to deposit a huge sum from 2011-13 despite regularly collecting fees from commuters.
This had led to the suspension of 13 ticket collectors and sailors, only to have them reinstated a couple of months after recovering Rs 5 lakh from them. The amounts ranged from Rs 20,000 to 50,000 per ticket collector.
The vigilance department’s inquiry is based on a detailed report from the RND on ferry routes, fares, sale of tickets and collection for the years 2011, 2012 and 2013.
RND charges around Rs 10 from four-wheelers and Rs 4 from two-wheelers per trip. There are 21 ferry routes in operation catering to around three lakh commuters and about 20,000 vehicles daily. The average collection comes to Rs 25,000 to Rs 30,000.
