SWABI, Jan 7: Brawls and exchange of hot words between drivers and commuters have become a routine in public transport vehicles here, as the transporters after increasing fares during the recent strike by CNG filling stations are not ready to bring them down to the previous level.

Besides, the district administration has failed to check overcharging by the transporters, who are said to be backed by influential people.

In one case, a van driver and conductor were beaten up at Shagai bus stop when they asked commuters to pay the increased fare or disembark from the Shewa Adda-bound vehicle. Imtiaz Gul, who was in the same van, said that the commuters refused to pay Rs25 instead of Rs15 fare according to the official list.

“We forced the driver to take us to the Shewa adda,” he said.

Besides, numerous clashes have occurred between transporters and college students, who also staged two protest demonstrations in the last few days.

It has been learnt that transporters are charging Rs5 to Rs20 more than the routine fares on Swabi-Topi, Swabi-Jahangira, Swabi-Mardan, Swabi-Peshawar and other local routes, depending on the distance.

The people are demanding the district administration to ensure display of fare lists by the transporters because the CNG strike has already ended.

When asked, several transporters said that displaying the fare list was not possible, as prices of CNG and petroleum products had been revised upward twice in a month.

Some public servants said that in the morning traffic police continued checking of vehicles and those indulging in overcharging were sent back to Swabi bus stand. They said that the police should fine the drivers to check overcharging in public transport.

The commuters said that most of the coaches and other vehicles were owned by influential people of the district and the police were hesitant to impound their vehicles.

However, officials of the district administration said that the transporters had not been allowed to charge extra fare from commuters.