As scores of people start leaving the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad to celebrate Eidul Fitr with their loved ones in their hometowns, the transporters have arbitrarily increased the fares in wake of a spike in POL prices, breaking their promise with the Rawalpindi Commissioner of reduction in transport charges.
According to sources, there has been an unusual rush of non-native citizens leaving the twin cities ahead of the Eid holiday season.
The sources said the transporters were also overloading their vehicles and were charging extra for the luggage of passengers.
“The passengers are being charged an additional fare equal to one boarding ticket for luggage due to which they are facing difficulties,” the sources said.
As the intra-city transport vehicles have gone on long routes, the transport system in the inner city has also been paralysed, the sources said.
The first Eid train reached Peshawar from Karachi on Tuesday evening, carrying the expatriates while the second special Eid train also left for Rawalpindi with 750 passengers from Karachi on Tuesday, which will arrive on Wednesday [today]. The third Eid train will also depart from Rawalpindi today.
One additional coach has also been installed with each train for the convenience of passengers. Booking of the additional coach seats is ongoing at the station on the spot.
Rawalpindi Commissioner Liaquat Ali Chattha has also issued instructions to the secretary of the Regional Transport Authority to monitor the transport bases and eliminate overcharging and overloading complaints on the increase in fares.
When contacted, Central Vice President of Transport Federation Asif Khan said that the price of petrol has been increased by Rs10. “Now the price of transport spare parts, tires, salaries of drivers, conductors and helpers have also increased many times,” he said and added that now the transporters cannot even think of reducing the fares.
The sources said that the number of passengers at the transport hubs is 40 to 45 per cent lower this year due to high inflation. “If the entire family used to visit their native village to celebrate Eid in the past, now only one or two members of the households are visiting due to high inflation,” they said and added that citizens have also started celebrating Eid through live video calls with loved ones.
“If a family of five goes to their native in a distant city, it has to pay Rs13,000 to Rs15,000 for the two-way fare and an additional Rs1,000 from home to the transport base,” they explained.
“As a result, it has become difficult for the entire family to celebrate Eid along with their parents,” they added.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 19th, 2023.
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