Despite clear directives from the district administration, transporters have increased fares on all inter-city routes by 5-10 percent in the wake of upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr, revealed a survey carried out by Business Recorder.
People have begun leaving for their home towns to celebrate Eid with their near and dear ones; transporters, as has become the norm, have taken advantage of increased traffic and upped fares on all the inter-city routes in the wake of upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr. Exchange of hot words between transporters and commuters was witnessed by this correspondent at nearly every bus-stand including Pirwadhai, Faizabad and Karachi company, from where dozens of buses, coaches and mini buses leave for other cities.
The district administration has directed the transporters to charge fixed fares from passengers, otherwise their road permits would be cancelled and they would be fined. However, passengers at different bus-stands maintained that authorities have yet again failed to take action against those transporters who overcharge as there is no mechanism to check fares. It is a wellknown practice that transporters keep fares high during Eid days.
The survey noted that thousands of people thronged the bus counters to buy advance Eid tickets, sale of which kicked off in the capital Wednesday, amid high demand for August 26 to August 28. Besides others reasons the transporters stated that higher fares reflect increase in diesel and CNG prices. Transporters plying air-conditioned coaches on routes to Larkana, Sukkur, Shikarpur, Jacobabad and other upper Sindh destinations have increased fares by more than Rs 100-150 per seat, which within next two days would be further jacked up by Rs 100.
Officials at railway station in Rawalpindi revealed that passengers travelling by rail, who have failed to get their seats reserved in advance, are also facing the same problem, as no seat or berth is available in almost all the main train routes. Similarly selling of tickets in black are also on the rise in all the railway stations, officials added. Commuters have urged the concerned authorities to take strict action against those over-charging passengers.