ISLAMABAD - Commuters travelling from Wah Cantt to Pirwadhai and Saddar have asked the authorities concerned to check fares increased by the transporters for the third time during the current year without official notification.
Due to increase in the petroleum products’ prices, the transporters have started fleecing the commuters, said Asad Khattak, a commuter, while talking to this agency.
He said that a large number of people travelled daily from Wah Cantt to Rawalpindi and Islamabad through public transport and unannounced increase in fare was an additional burden on their pockets.
The fare from Wah Cantt to Pirwadhai was Rs 40 till the end of last year, which was raised to Rs 45 in January, Rs 50 in April and now Rs 55, which added the worries of low-income group of people.
Zahid Hanif, a cellular company employee, said that the transporters did not follow any mechanism and raised fare at their will.
He said, “If the government increases price of petrol by Rs 5 per litre, the transporters start charging Rs 5 extra from each passenger”. There is none to check them as officially no fare list issued, he added.
Zareen Shah, a shop owner at Benazir Bhutto Road, said the driver of these vans were so rude and openly say that they decided fare themselves and no one could interfere in it.
“If any passenger raises voice against it, they drop him and say we are not answerable to anyone,” he said.
Zeeshan Ashraf, a passenger, recalled that in April the passengers had refused to give extra fare and had dispersed on the intervention of the Islamabad police that the transporters would not charge extra fare.
But the very next day, the transporters started charging new fare, but no police official came despite repeated requests by the passengers, which fell on deaf ear.
“Such a behaviour of authorities has given a free hand to the transporters to raise fare at their will,” he added.
Another passenger, Nasir Mahmood, said the transporters were a mafia.
They increase fare when diesel prices or CNG prices were raised and the authorities concerned behave like silent spectators, he added. Islamabad Traffic Police was least bothered about the vans coming from Wah Cantt as they travelled only a short distance within ICT, said another passenger. “Where should I go to lodge complaint against them,” said Nasir Mahmood.
When contacted, Aftab Aslam of the National Highway and Motorway authority said that the Rawalpindi Transport Authority (RTA) issued route permits to the vans and it was responsible to provide them fare list.
However, he said, on complaint, they could take action against the violators. A message in this regard will be conveyed to them on duty staff to address the issue, he added. Despite repeated telephonic contacts, version of the RTA Secretary could not be obtained.