Hundreds of private bus workers yet to submit details for police verification
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The verification drive was initiated as part of the Kochi City police’s efforts to find a long-lasting solution to repeated incidents of violent and unruly behaviour by a section of private bus workers. | Photo Credit: THULASI KAKKAT
Nearly two-thirds of the private bus employees in the city were yet to furnish their personal details for police verification even as the initial deadline of September 24 fixed by the authorities expired. As of Thursday (September 24, 2026), the police had received the details of only 474 bus employees, including drivers and conductors, while it is roughly estimated that around 2,000 employees work as bus crew in the city, according to senior police officers.
The details were submitted to the Traffic East and West police stations within the Kochi City limits in pro forma filled in by the employees. “The forms have been given to bus operators’ associations, which in turn get them filled in by employees. Though we had asked them to get the forms filled in by September 24, we are yet to get back many. We will keep receiving them in the coming days, and verification of the details already collected is under way,” a senior officer said.
The verification drive was initiated as part of the city police’s efforts to find a long-lasting solution to repeated incidents of violent and unruly behaviour by a section of bus workers. Once the verification is done, the police will issue identification (ID) cards to eligible workers, as per the plan conceived by District Police Chief (Kochi City) Kaliraj Mahesh Kumar in consultation with stakeholders in the sector.
Though the police’s initial plan was to complete the verification drive by the end of the month, it now looks unlikely due to the delay in receiving the details.
K.B. Suneer, president, Ernakulam Private Bus Operators Association, said there was no deliberate delay from the association or the workers in submitting the details. “All have been very cooperative with the police in the initiative. Only a few who are aware that they are not eligible for a police clearance certificate [PCC] may have refused to submit their details. Bus operators will henceforth employ only those with ID cards issued by the police,” he said, while reiterating concerns over the shortage of workforce in the sector.
T.P. Mani, a bus conductor with 25 years of experience, said he and those known to him had already submitted the forms. “We have been getting PCCs promptly every six months. So, we don’t have anything to worry about the verification,” he said, adding that the misdeeds of a few had brought a bad name to the whole workforce.
“Those who create the problems often roam around free and work on one bus or another, while the rest of us have to undergo scrutiny,” a driver, who did not wish to be named, rued.
The city has continued to witness incidents of alleged unruly behaviour by bus employees even after the verification drive began. In the latest such incident, the Ernakulam Central police on Friday booked a bus driver for allegedly hitting a car driven by a 56-year-old man on Park Avenue Road in an act of road rage.
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