Section 173 in The West Bengal Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989
173. Conduct of persons using Stage Carriage and Contract Carriage.
(1)If at anytime, a passenger or a person using or intending to use a Stage Carriage and Contract Carriage(i)obstructs any authorised employee of the permit holder in the execution of his duties or has bulky luggage of a form or description which creates annoyance or inconvenience to another passenger or is likely do so, or(ii)carries any animal, bird, flesh or fish other than food in its original packings, any instrument, implement, substance or any other article which is offensive and is likely to cause annoyance or inconvenience to any other passenger, or(iii)without lawful excuse occupies any seat exclusively reserved for female passengers, or(iv)sings or plays upon any musical instruments or operates a transistor radio, or(v)rings the signal without lawful excuse, or otherwise interferes with the signal of the Stage Carriage, or(vi)is reasonably suspected to suffer from any contagious or infectious disease, or(vii)knowingly or intentionally enters such a carriage which is carrying the maximum number of passengers according to the seating capacity specified in the certificate of registration of the vehicle and any additional number permitted under terms of the permit to be carried in excess of the seating capacity in the vehicle, Or(viii)has dress or clothing which is likely to soil or damage the seats or the dress, clothing of another passenger, or for any other reason, such dress or clothing is offensive to other passengers, or(ix)commits or abets any breach of the provisions of the Act or the rules made thereunder,the driver or the conductor may require such person or passenger to alight from the vehicle forthwith and may stop the vehicle or keep it stationary until such person has alighted. Such person or passenger shall not be entitled to a refund of any fare which he may have paid any person or passenger failing to comply forthwith, be removed by the conductor or the driver, or by any police officer on being requested by the driver or the conductor or any passenger in that behalf, and shall also be guilty of an offence punishable under Chapter XIII of the Act.(2)No passenger, or person using of intending to use such a carriage shall -(i)refuse to pay the legal fare, or(ii)refuse to show any ticket on demand by the authorised person, or(iii)refuse to pay a fresh fare when he has altered or defaced his ticket so as to render the number or any portion thereof illegible, or(iv)behave in a disorderly manner, or(v)behave in a manner likely to cause alarm or annoyance to any female passenger, or(vi)use abusive language, or(vii)interfere with the driving of the vehicle, or(viii)smoke in any vehicle on which a notice prohibiting smoking is exhibited, or(ix)enter or leave or attempt to enter or leave any such carriage while it is in motion, or(x)enter or attempt to enter into or alight from or attempt to alight from a stage carriage except through the entrance or exit provided for the purpose, or(xi)continue to remain in the vehicle when it is being filled with fuel, or(xii)interfere with the driving of the vehicle, or(xiii)use or attempt to use a ticket other than the ticket valid for a particular journey or use or attempt to use a ticket which has already been used by another passenger or for another journey, or(xiv)wilfully damage or soil or remove any fittings in or on such carriage or interfere with any light or any part of such carriage or its equipment, or(xv)board such a carriage unless he is an employee of the permit holder or a bona fide passenger or an intending passenger, or hang on to any exterior part of such carriage, or(xvi)refuse on demand being made by the driver or conductor or a police officer, when reasonably suspected of contravening any of the provisions of this rule, to give his correct name and address to such driver or conductor, or police officer, or(xvii)refuse on a request being made by the conductor to declare to him journey he intends to take or has taken in such carriage, or before leaving such carriage, omit to pay to the conductor the legal fare for the whole journey, as specified in the table of fares exhibited in such carriage.(3)If at any time a passenger or person using such a carriage is unable or fails to produce or surrender his ticket on demand, during the journey or at the end of the journey, by any authorised person, he shall be liable to pay the legal fare from the place whence the carriage originally started or such portion thereof as required by the authorised person.(4)Every passenger shall be entitled to receive a ticket from the conductor corresponding to the fare paid.Explanation. - In this rule the expression "ticket" includes an identity card, season ticket, pass or any authorisation issued by the permit holder authorising a person to travel on such carriage.
