With the arrival of summer vacations and the increasing rush of upcountry passengers, the transporters have increased the fares of buses without any approval of concerned authority. They have suddenly increased the fare of at least Rs 100 per passenger as the summer vacation has started and a large number of people have started booking their seats in these inter-city buses.
Some people were found exchanging harsh words with the sellers of tickets at bus stand near Saddar, who were shocked when extra Rs 100 was demanded for each ticket as they said the transport department had allowed them to charge that extra money. Interestingly, when this scribe asked for showing the notice or letter of increase in fares issued by government, they failed to so.
The ticket issuing staff of "Karachi Coach Services", when asked to show any notice from the ministry of transport, said that their manager would provide it as they were not allowed to show it. However, the fares at counters of "Pakistan Coach Services" were not increased and they were issuing the tickets on the existing rate. "We have not received any notification of increase in fares," the ticket issuing clerk said.
But the fares were increased by most of the bus service providing private companies at different bus stands of Saddar, Lasbela, Al-Asif Square, etc, where the buses were running on different routes of the country from Karachi to Lahore, Rawalpindi, Peshawar and other cities of the country.
Contrary to the fact that the diesel price has decreased by Rs 1.47 per litre in the market, neither any reduction has been made in the fares nor does the government have any check on the transport mafia, who increase charges by themselves freely.
Talib Hussain, Manager of "Makkah Coach Service" said that no notification had been received from the transport department and the increase in fares was made by some profiteers of transport mafia. "We are running our buses on the previous rate," he said, adding that people should refuse paying any extra amount to these companies.
Ali Raza, a passenger of Karachi Coach Service, said that there was no check on these companies who were looting the people by charging extra money. "The company staffs threatened to cancel my reserved seat if the extra charges of Rs 100 was not paid at the moment when the bus was to leave the station," he added.
Another passenger of "Natco Bus Service" of Northern Areas Transport Corporation at Adventist Bus Stand, near Sadder, complained that despite being government transport service, people were being charged Rs 100 to Rs 300 more than other private transport services. He said that fares of Natco buses ranged from Rs 1300 to Rs 1500, running from Karachi to Rawalpindi, instead of the usual fare of Rs 1200.
"The profiteers in the inter-city bus services are charging extra money in fares as they are enjoy support of some officials in the transport department," Muhammad Shamati, a passenger alleged. He said the high-ups in the transport department of Government of Sindh should have a check on the profiteers who loot the poor people.