Rawalpindi : The district administration has opened Vehicle Inspection Certificate System (VICS) here at Chur Chowk, Peshawar Road to issue fitness clearance certificates. Deputy Commissioner (DC), Rawalpindi Tahir Farooq inaugurated the Vehicle Inspection Certificate System (VICS) here on Wednesday.
VICS has been established to facilitate small vehicles like taxis, rickshaws, Suzuki pickups, motorcycles rickshaws etc. They were facing difficulties in approaching far-off areas near Mandra to get clearance certificates for their vehicles. Big vehicles like wagons, buses, and other goods transports are still getting clearance certificates from VICS near Mandra. The wagon and bus owners have also appealed to local management to allow them to get clearance certificates for their vehicles from the newly established VICS at Chur Chowk, Peshawar Road.
The local administration has fixed a Rs700 fee to get a fitness certificate for owners of small vehicles.
The District Regional Transport Authority (DRTA) has also demolished 8 illegal bus and wagon terminals here at Pirwadhai. The privately owned terminals were operational for over 10 years and looting passengers with both hands. Commissioner Rawalpindi Noor-ul-Amin Mengal has directed authorities concerned to demolish all illegal terminals and also directed to continue the crackdown against transporters for charging extra fares.
Within two days, the District Regional Transport Authority (DRTA) has registered 34 FIRs confiscated 54 vehicles and sent 29 drivers and conductors to Adiala Jail for overcharging.
Commissioner Rawalpindi Division Noor-ul-Amin Mengal has directed the officials to take strict action against transporters found involved in overcharging passengers travelling on various routes in Rawalpindi.
The local and long route transporters are openly looting the public by charging double or triple fares. The local management some four days back warned transporters to cut down fares by 20 per cent because the government reduced POL prices. But, transporters have thrown the orders of local management in the dustbin and continue taking extra fares as per routine.
District Regional Transport Authority (DRTA) Secretary Muhammad Rashid Ali told ‘The News’ that a crackdown has been launched against transporters for overcharging. “We have registered 34 FIRs and confiscated 54 public transport vehicles (PSVs) and sent 29 people to Adiala Jail. I have directed managements of all long route terminals to display fares otherwise strict action would be taken against them,” he warned.
He also said that a summary has been sent to Punjab Transport Authority (PTA) to increase fares. The PTA has suggested increasing fares by Rs1:25 per kilometre. The Punjab government will issue a notification to increase fares within days, he hoped. He also said that we have established VICS here in city limits to facilitate small vehicles to get fitness certificates easily.
The local transporters are charging double fares while long route transporters are charging extra fares. No doubt, long routes transporters have displayed banners of reduced fares but the original story was different. The banners were only to befool the local management whereas, in reality, the long route transporters were charging extra fares as per routine.
In a survey conducted by ‘The News’ from Raja Bazaar to Model Town Humak, the pickup drivers are charging Rs80 against Rs35 while from Raja Bazaar to Faridabad drivers and conductors are charging Rs60 against Rs25. From Kutcherry Chowk to Khanna Pul the transporters are charging Rs90 against Rs35. From Raja Bazaar to Rawat the transporters are charging Rs90 against Rs40.
Talking to ‘The News’, Commissioner Rawalpindi Division said that no one would be allowed to fleece commuters, adding that public transport vehicles involved in overcharging would be impounded.
He said that a number of complaints had been lodged by the residents with the RTA regarding overcharging on various routes and warned the transporters not to violate the rules; else strict action would be taken against them. The transporters could not increase fares on their own, he added.
He said RTA has started a move against the transporters involved in overcharging and not displaying the fare list appropriately.
The checking will be carried out randomly at different places. Strict action will be taken on the spot and excess fares will be returned to the passengers, he added.