Commuters paying more for whose fault

LAHORE
The provincial assembly’s failure to reform/amend the Transport Act pending in the provincial assembly once again led to the exploitation by intercity transporters of the hardworking middle class striving to get back to their families on Eid.
Like every other event involving exodus from metropolises to hometowns, the intercity transporters exploit the commuters while the City District Government Lahore are trying to restore some of the sanity through raids and fines.
The inflexible and undeniable demand for intercity travel is a temptation that transport owners cannot resist. The fares for intercity almost were doubled a couple of days before Eid and the commuters were left with no choice but to yield to this exploitation. This, however, is a complex phenomenon because the fares of intercity air-conditioned buses do not fall under the regulation by the government and they are free to set the fares depending on the supply/demand balance.
This being a domain that needs further legislation at provincial level and a bill for amendments in the Transport Act is still pending in the provincial assembly of Punjab. While the laws are ambiguous in their own right, the transporters seemingly practise their right to free market economy. The plight of the exploited commuters, however, is a phenomenon that cannot be addressed unless laws define the parameters for intercity air-conditioned buses. “They do not even switch on the air-conditioners but still charge fares for air-conditioned buses”, said Kashif, travelling his home in Lodhra. “All across the world, fares are lowered on such festivals of love and harmony in good faith whereas in our country people don’t even mind earning illegal money on Eid through overcharging”, commented Shazia. The DCO Lahore, Commissioner Lahore and DRTA Transport raided the intercity bus stands at various times of the day to bring sanity to the affairs. The DCO claimed that he made the transporters return overcharged amount to the passengers amounting close to Rs 400,000 while the DRTA fined buses and made them return overcharged amount to the passengers at Babu Sahbu.