The Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC) has initiated an inquiry into the suspected hacking of an electronic route display board of one of its buses to display the name of a political party briefly.

According to sources, the electronic route board of a bus (registration number TN45 M 4853) belonging to TNSTC (Kumbakonam) Ltd., Tiruchi region, showed the words “Tamilaga Vettri Kazhagam” instead of its regular destination details.

The bus operates on the Tiruchi–Kambam route, passing through Dindigul and Theni districts. The incident, reportedly noticed near Dindigul three days ago, went viral on social media, raising questions on how a political party’s name appeared on an official route display.

In a post on its official X handle on Sunday, the Transport Department said the bus seen in the viral video was a newly inducted vehicle attached to the Tiruchi region of TNSTC (Kumbakonam). An inquiry was ordered after certain unauthorised words appeared on the electronic route board.

The inquiry revealed unidentified persons had hacked the motherboard controlling the electronic route display and uploaded misleading text. Soon after the issue came to notice, the motherboard of the electronic board was replaced and the correct route details were restored, the department said.

It added that the service provider responsible for the electronic display system had been instructed to prevent recurrence and to assist in identifying those responsible.

When contacted, a senior TNSTC official said miscreants had accessed the system using the onboard Wi-Fi connection. “Three days ago, the router password appears to have been compromised. We have now strengthened the password protection and locked the system to prevent unauthorised access,” the official said.

Transport department sources said safeguards were being implemented across buses equipped with electronic route boards to prevent similar incidents.