I AM deeply dismayed by the dishonesty of the diplomatic shuttle service in Islamabad which is grossly overcharging visa seekers who are compelled to use the shuttle service to go to embassies.

I reached the shuttle service complex at 8 am on Feb 13. The embassy website had informed me that the return ticket for the short 10-minute ride to the embassy was Rs500. There are two ticket counters -- executive class and economy.

Morning time is rush hour at the complex, and the shuttle staff had deliberately closed the economy class counter. Anxious visa seekers had no option but to buy the executive class tickets at an exorbitant cost of Rs1,000 each.

My wife objected and said that the ticket was supposed to be Rs500 but the official just smiled, and I had to pay Rs2,000 for two tickets. However, about half an hour later, when the rush had subsided, the economy class counter was opened, but by that time a major part of the visa seekers had already purchased the expensive executive tickets.

Generally most visa seekers prefer the short economy ride, which is bad business for the transport contractor. Therefore the diplomatic shuttle service has devised this plan to mint more money from the helpless and anxious visa seekers, who will willingly pay more just to be able to get to the embassies on time.

The vigilance staff of Capital Development Authority is requested to ensure that the transport contractor of this service keeps the economy counter open at all times, and does not rob the already stressed visa seekers of their hard earned money.

Khalid Hyder

Rawalpindi

Published in Dawn, February 17th, 2019