October 04, 2008	Saturday	Shawwal 04, 1429

ISLAMABAD, Oct 3: Public transport in the twin cities remained almost off the road during the three-day Eid holidays leaving commuters with no option but to travel on high fare taxis.

The absence of public transport vehicles caused great hardship to the citizens who were forced to travel on the cabs which took full advantage of the situation and charged the passengers at will.

Jawad Hussain, a resident of Islamabad, said “taxi drivers always ask you for a minimum of Rs150 if you are travelling from Zero Point to Peshawar Mor.”

He pointed out that these drivers were aware of the local transport situation during the Eid holidays, “so they have their own laws for the day”.

Rana Zaheer, a taxi driver, while justifying the high fares said “we hardly find passengers as Islamabad is deserted during the Eid holidays so we have no other option but to charge higher rates to recover at least the operating cost of our vehicles”.

A taxi commuter, Farahan said cab drivers always charge passengers double fares during the Eid holidays in the name of Eidee, adding there is no law to check them.

A general impression is that police are responsible for checking drivers from overcharging. However, the traffic police claimed that the issue did not fall under their jurisdiction.

“We are aware of the problem but we have no control over taxi drivers,” said an official of the Islamabad Traffic Police helpline.

He said they would not entertain any complaint regarding yellow cabs. “We would listen to you only if you are being charged higher fares by public transport vehicles.” He said it was up to the passenger as at what fare he hires a cab.

“Yellow cab drivers are issued the commercial vehicle licence by the motor vehicle inspector, so they are not under our authority,” he claimed.