An ambulance driver in Bengaluru was fined by the police for using his vehicle as a taxi to ferry business professionals to work. The incident came to light when a commuter gave way to the ambulance and noticed that the back was packed with people in formal wear. He then took photos of the vehicle and posted it on social media, grabbing the attention of the law enforcement authorities in the city.
The incident took place in Agrahara Layout in Yelahanka.
The News Minute reports that the ambulance was hired by a real estate company in the city to help with the commute of the employees of the company.
According to TNM, the Bengaluru Traffic Police commented on Rana's post saying, "We are already creating awareness & also booking more... cases regularly against such violators and will strictly enforce it in the future. [We] have informed the sector traffic officer to check and take necessary action (sic)."
The vehicle registration number helped the traffic police trace the ambulance back to the owner and the driver. The driver was charged Rs 600 and his driving license was suspended.
Unfortunately, this is not the first time an ambulance was misused in Bengaluru. In March 2017, an ambulance driver was booked for using the siren while transporting the corpse of a person. This is seen as illegal.
"This is not very unusual. The police have started doing drives against ambulance drivers due to rising incidents. We get complaints of them being misused. We have seen them used to ferry school children early in the morning," MA Saleem, an IPS officer told TNM.
"During drives, it has also been found that sometimes ambulance drivers are drunk. But otherwise, we cannot take criminal action against them. We cancel their licenses as per the Motor Vehicle Act," he explained.
