Price gouging: Inter-city bus operators fleecing passengers
Home-goers complain of paying double fare.
Home-bound passenger at the Faizabad bus terminal. PHOTO: ONLINE
ISLAMABAD:
Inter-city bus operators and ticket touts in the twin cities have started fleecing passengers heading to their hometowns to celebrate Eid with their loved ones.
Faizabad, Pirwadhai and Sawaan bus terminals are flooded with ticket-seekers and the transporters are taken full advantage of this onslaught of the passengers by demanding double fares from them. The passengers complained of being at the mercy of the transporters.
Kaleem Asghar, a university student who was holding a ticket in his hand for his hometown of Gujranwala, said that the fare was normally Rs150 to Rs250 depending on the type of bus, but this time he had to pay Rs500. “This is illegal and unacceptable. Transporters are looting us,” he complained. “What if someone did not have extra
money on hand? What would have happened to him,” he asked.
Khalid, another passenger at the Pirwadhai bus stand, said he had to pay Rs3,000 extra to get tickets to go to his village with his wife and four children.
“This happens on every Eid,” he said, adding that the government and the officials concerned have shirked their responsibility to keep tabs on the practice.
Passengers say transporters play a double game. Before Eid, they raise bus fares for upcountry destinations, and after Eid, they raise the fares for the return routes.
On the other hand, Nawaz, a ticket agent at the Faizabad bus terminal said that “these are the days when we make money”. No one can stop us. This is a normal practice throughout the country on special occasions,” he said while shrugging his head.
He also claimed that a handsome share from the ‘windfall’ was sent to transport officials as well.
No official from the regional transport authority could be contacted for comment despite repeated calls to their offices.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2013.
Inter-city bus operators and ticket touts in the twin cities have started fleecing passengers heading to their hometowns to celebrate Eid with their loved ones.
Faizabad, Pirwadhai and Sawaan bus terminals are flooded with ticket-seekers and the transporters are taken full advantage of this onslaught of the passengers by demanding double fares from them. The passengers complained of being at the mercy of the transporters.
Kaleem Asghar, a university student who was holding a ticket in his hand for his hometown of Gujranwala, said that the fare was normally Rs150 to Rs250 depending on the type of bus, but this time he had to pay Rs500. “This is illegal and unacceptable. Transporters are looting us,” he complained. “What if someone did not have extra
money on hand? What would have happened to him,” he asked.
Khalid, another passenger at the Pirwadhai bus stand, said he had to pay Rs3,000 extra to get tickets to go to his village with his wife and four children.
“This happens on every Eid,” he said, adding that the government and the officials concerned have shirked their responsibility to keep tabs on the practice.
Passengers say transporters play a double game. Before Eid, they raise bus fares for upcountry destinations, and after Eid, they raise the fares for the return routes.
On the other hand, Nawaz, a ticket agent at the Faizabad bus terminal said that “these are the days when we make money”. No one can stop us. This is a normal practice throughout the country on special occasions,” he said while shrugging his head.
He also claimed that a handsome share from the ‘windfall’ was sent to transport officials as well.
No official from the regional transport authority could be contacted for comment despite repeated calls to their offices.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 15th, 2013.