Ripping off: An expensive ride to the Diplomatic Enclave

CDA gives a ‘free hand’ to the shuttle service to overcharge visitors.

ISLAMABAD: People visiting Diplomatic Enclave for visa purposes have been put in a difficult position by the Diplomatic Shuttle Service (DSS). Visitors are being charged at will after the Capital Development Authority (CDA) gave a free hand to the DSS contractor.

Muhammad Hussain, owner of DSS, has increased the fare by 150 per cent.

Apart from the designated waiting area, DSS administration has also introduced a ‘VIP’ waiting lounge. It has been made mandatory for US Embassy visitors to purchase a ticket worth Rs500 for the lounge. For the common waiting room, visitors are being charged Rs200 per head.

Similarly, the administration is charging another Rs20 for car parking, due to which many visitors prefer to park their vehicles on the 3rd Avenue.

Tariq Mehmood, who wanted to visit the Embassy of Canada for visa purposes, said, “After security clearance, visitors should be allowed to approach the embassies. Apart from the extremely high charges, a lot of time is consumed because of the shuttle service.”

An employee of DSS, on condition of anonymity, said, “Rs500 ticket is mandatory for visitors of US Embassy, while people who appear to be from well-to-do backgrounds are forced to buy tickets for the VIP Lounge.”

In reply to these claims, Manager Operation DSS, Raheem said that the option of purchasing Rs200 or Rs500 tickets was visitor’s prerogative. “Nobody is pressurised by our staff to purchase any specific ticket,” he said.

“The prices of sugar and other daily commodities were also beyond the reach of common people, then why is DSS being criticised for overcharging,” he added.

Raheem added that people who bought the more expensive ticket were provided extra facilities. “They are given emergency transportation apart from other services,” he said.

“Sometimes we do not charge money from people who are unable to pay,” Raheem added.

Similarly, Deputy Director Planning CDA Ghulam Sarwar Sindhu said, “People do not have a problem with higher charges because they are also being provided with better facilities.”

Explaining the terms of contract between the CDA and Hussain, he said that after an open bidding, the CDA Board approved the contract back in 2007 for seven years. “After that, the well equipped offices of DSS would become CDA’s property,” he said.

Earlier, the contract of Muhammad Hussain, the operator of the service, had expired in 2007 but CDA extended it by violating the defined rules and regulations. CDA had awarded the DSS contract to Hussain under Built Operate Transfer (BOT) programme in 2007. Officials said that other bidders were sidelined and only Hussain got a chance to present his case in front of the CDA Board for this purpose.

Hussain was then provided with a piece of land on 3rd Avenue (Quaid-i-Azam University Road) on a seven-year contract where he built his own building

DSS was first launched in April 2002 from Convention Centre, with an aim of establishing a safe and speedy shuttle service for diplomatic dignitaries as well as domestic visa seekers. Later, it also became a way of ensuring better security for diplomatic enclave, serving as a first-line check for the intending visitors. This also helped in reducing the number of private vehicles inside the enclave.

Nowadays, visa seekers can only access Diplomatic Enclave through the DSS and that too after getting an appointment from the concerned embassy.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 23^rd, 2010.