KARACHI: Scuffles between passengers, transporters
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Dec 24: Scuffles broke out between passengers and conductors on Monday as transport operators remained divided on the reduced fare structure.
Two major groups of transport operators — the Karachi Transport Ittehad (KTI) and the Karachi Transport Federation (KTF) — have differing views over the reduced fare structure announced by the government on Dec 21.
The KTI asked it allied bodies to charge the fares in accordance with the agreement reached between the KTI and the provincial government following the reduction of diesel prices by the oil companies advisory committee. The KTI started implementing the new fare structure on Monday.
On the other hand, the KTF rejected the transport fare structure, saying that the government had not taken all transport groups into confidence. It added that fluctuation in diesel prices should not be made a basis alone for reducing or increasing the transport fares.
People therefore found on Monday that while some transport operators were charging reduced fares, others were charging the old fares.
A commuter, who introduced himself as Qasim Lodhi, said he had travelled from PIB Colony to Saddar and he had been charged in accordance with the old fares.
But, he came to know that the fares were reduced when he travelled from Saddar to Tower and returned to Saddar.
Another commuter Saleem said he had witnessed heated arguments between the conductors and the passengers over the fares as the people referred to the announcement appeared in press and conductors claimed that they had not received any notification in this regard.
The KTI chief, Irshad Bokhari, said the KTI had voluntarily reduced the fares of public transport to facilitate people. He asked the allied bodies of the KTI to charge the passengers reduced fares. He asked the commuters to lodge their complaints about overcharging at the KTI office on phone numbers 7722687/7765878 or its branch office on 4925190 instead of getting involved into heated arguments with conductors. “They just mention the route number and the vehicle number,” he said, adding that the KTI would take action on public complaints.
However, KTF chief Saleem Bangash said the government had not taken them into confidence before the announcement for reduction of transport fares. He said the prices of spare parts, tyre/tubes and lubricants had not been lowered which directly related to the maintenance of the vehicles. He said the diesel prices should not be made a basis alone for reducing or raising the transport fares but the government should fix the prices of lubricants, tyre/tubes and spare parts at the level when the diesel had been below Rs13 a litre.
He claimed that the slash in diesel prices benefited a bus almost Rs4,000-4,500 a month and minibus Rs3,000-3,5000 a month. But the cutback in fare transport structure would inflict the losses on a bus to an extent of Rs18,000-20,000 and on a minibus to an extent of Rs14,000-15,000.
