RAWALPINDI, April 13: The District Regional Transport Authority on Tuesday issued a notice to a private transport company operating on franchised routes over its 'inability' to accommodate the passenger load.

Talking to Dawn, DRTA secretary Chaudhry Tariq said the transport authority was alive to the commuters' problems and had issued a notice to the company management, asking it to make adequate arrangements to cope with the situation. A second notice is likely to issued on Wednesday, he added.

On the other hand, the transport company denied having received any such notice. The secretary, however, warned that action might be taken against the company if it failed to operate according to its agreement with the authority and was found unable to accommodate the load. But when asked to specify the action he was empowered to take, he refused to comment.

He conceded that he was not in a position to press the company to enhance its fleet as the agreement required the company to maintain a fleet of 150 buses. Meanwhile, a large number of commuters were seen standing in scorching heat at designated stops along Murree Road and other frenchised routes, as the transport crisis entered its second day on Tuesday.

Earlier, on Monday, the transport company obtained exclusive rights to operate on seven city routes. The regular commuters were the worst-hit as they had to wait for hours to get to their destinations, especially during early hours, afternoon and in the evening. Most of the people were late for their offices and other work places.

Earlier, the transport company chairperson, Uzma Gul, had claimed that she would run the bus service according to the requirements of commuters. The company manager, Yousaf Gul, when contacted, said the public transport owners had removed vehicles from more than a dozen routes, including those which were not frenchised, to create problems for commuters and incite them to protests against the company.

He expressed his satisfaction with the bus service, saying the rush was due to withdrawal of public transport vehicles from all other routes. Answering a question whether any survey had been conducted to ascertain as to how many buses would be needed, Mr Gul claimed that the 150-bus fleet was enough for the frenchised routes.

He said the present fleet was maintained in accordance with three different studies carried out by the Regional Transport Authority, the district administration and the bus company itself.

Meanwhile, the company, which had introduced a special fare of Rs5 for all destinations to dilute the public pressure after the withdrawal of other public transport vehicles, is considering reverting to its standard fares shortly, a source said.

In a related development, the owners of vans and buses withdrawn from the franchised routes have decided to set up a protest camp at Marir Chowk from Wednesday.