After the massive earthquake that shook the country on Saturday, panicked public started to leave the valley in droves seeking safety since Sunday. But operators of passenger buses have been using it as an opportunity to charge exorbitant fares instead of supporting them.
Raj Chaudhary, a student, paid Rs 2,000 for a Tata Sumo ticket to Birgunj from Kathmandu on Wednesday though the regular fare is just Rs 500. "We have already suffered a lot and the bus operators are just adding to our woes. It is shameful that they looking to profit from people's tragedy and the government is doing nothing," said Raj whose parents had insisted that he return to Birgunj for safety.
Moreover, a monitoring team of the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) on Wednesday also found that Janakpur bound buses were charging Rs 2,500 per seat, although the actual fare is just Rs 700.
Likewise, the DoTM inspectors found that some buses leaving for Hetauda were charging Rs 800 though the regular fair is Rs 430.
"Although we could monitor only a few ticket counters, we have learnt that charging high fares to passengers by long-route vehicles is rampant,' said Basanta Adhikari, spokesperson of DoTM, adding it is unfortunate that transportation entrepreneurs are driven by profit-motive even in the crisis.
Since Saturday, ther has been a mass exodus of public from the valley to various places. Around 350,000 people have already left the valley for various places, according to Metropolitan Traffic Police Division (MTPD). Officials at the MTPD expect that figure to go up even more in the next few days.
"People are scared and desperate to leave the valley. Instead of facilitating their departure, vehicles operators exploiting the situation for their own benefit," said Inspector Rajendra Pokharel, deputy spokesperson of MTPD. In the last two days, the MTPD has detained 74 people for charging money more than the fixed tickets fares.
He said it has been difficult to take action against wrongdoers as the tickets handed to passengers mention the fares set by the government. "Public are also not complaining about the irregularities because of the rush to go home and out of fear that they may not get another vehicle. Still, we are trying our best to control the problem. We have expedited our monitoring and actions," added he.
On Wednesday, PABSON, NPABSON and HISSAN jointly launched a free bus service facility for around 5,000 people willing to leave valley for various places. But more than 20,000 people turned up, seeking the facility. "It was mainly because the public transportation fares are very expensive," said Lakshya Bahadur KC, chairperson of PABSON.
Chief Secretary Leela Mani Poudayl said that what the bus operators are doing at a time of crisis is a crime. "We are receiving many complaints about high fares charged by the buses. We have directed concerned authorities to take strong action against such bus operators,"
DoTM's spokesperson Adhikari said that they would scrap route permit of those vehicles found charging high fares.
However, representatives of Federation of Nepal Transportation Entrepreneurs' Association have said that they have been providing services to the public on the fare set by the government. They said they will investigate into the matter and take serious actions against those entrepreneurs found cheating passengers.
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