HYDERABAD, Aug 8: Bus-owners of Hyderabad have threatened to launch a protest campaign if the overcharging of parking fee by the Qasim Chowk bus-stop contractor is not stopped.

Speaking at a news conference at the press club here on Monday, Mohammad Habib, Zaheer Khan, Irfan Ahmed Ansari, Abdul Rasheed, Mohammad Javed, Zeeshan Ashraf Arain, Dost Mohammad and Mohammad Akram said that under an agreement signed by the Hyderabad cantonment board and the contractor, the latter could charge Rs100 per bus at the Qasim Chowk bus-stop but the contractor through his strongmen was charging Rs800 to Rs1,000 per bus. They said if any driver or conductor refused to pay the money, he was beaten.

They regretted that complaints had been filed with the cantonment board, army and police on many occasions but no action had been taken by any agency against the contractor. Thy said the contractor was openly claiming that the board and the army were with him.

They demanded that the contractor should be directed to charge Rs100 from each bus and duration of parking at the bus stop should be increased from three minutes to five minutes.