Thrissur: In a twist on the day of launch, passengers travelling on a KSRTC ordinary bus from Thrissur to Chalakudy were reportedly asked to pay fares shortly after the inauguration of the free travel scheme for women and transgender persons.

The scheme, named ‘Priyadarshini’, was officially inaugurated in Thrissur at around 9 am.

However, students who boarded the bus around 9:35 am said they were still charged ticket fares despite the announcement of free travel.

“System not updated,” says staff

According to passengers, the bus conductor collected fares citing that the system had not yet been updated to implement the free travel facility.

The explanation came even as the scheme was publicly launched earlier in the day, creating confusion among commuters and staff.

Students from Koratty, who had been waiting at the bus stand since 8:30 am, said they were initially welcomed with bouquets and laddus during the launch atmosphere, but were later made to pay for tickets.

They alleged that when they raised concerns, public representatives and political workers on the bus were focused on photographs and video recordings rather than addressing the issue.

The incident has triggered criticism over the preparedness of KSRTC and the government in rolling out the scheme.

Passengers and observers said the lack of system updates and coordination led to confusion, raising questions about implementation planning on the very first day of the programme.

The ‘Priyadarshini’ scheme is designed to provide free travel for women and transgender persons across ordinary KSRTC services in Kerala, aimed at reducing daily commuting costs.

However, the launch-day controversy has sparked debate over execution gaps and passenger inconvenience during rollout.