GUJRAT, Dec 2: The National Highway and Motorway Police and the traffic police have failed to control overcharging and overloading by public transporters on various routes in the district. A survey conducted by Dawn on Friday revealed that the public transporters, especially the wagon crew, had been charging the commuters at will. They have installed extra seats in their vehicles to drag in a maximum number of people.
The provincial government had issued a notification on Sept 21 last, directing the transporters to charge 45 paisa for one kilometre distance. The list fixes the fare from Gujrat to Servis Morr (four kilometres) at Rs1.80, from Gujrat to Deona Basko (10km) at Rs4.5, from Gujrat to Lalamusa (18km) Rs8.1, from Gujrat to Ali Chak (22km) Rs9.9, from Gujrat to Kharian Cantonment (28km) Rs12.6 and from Gujrat to Kharian (31km) Rs14. These stops are located on the GT Road.
The commuters alleged that the transporters were charging even double the actual fares. They complained that the transporters did not affix the official fare lists in their vehicles and whenever they asked them to show the list, they were forced to step down.
The travellers of the rural routes in the district are equally at unease.
The local RTA secretary had written a letter No 3807 on Oct 31 to the NH&MP chief patrolling officer (Deona Mandi Office) to check overcharging and overloading on the GT Road. The police, however, have failed to deliver.
Speaking to Dawn, some transporters took the plea that frequent raise in petroleum prices forced them to enhance the fares. They accused the traffic police of taking bribe from them which, they said, made them charge arbitrarily high fares from the commuters.
The traffic police and the NH&MP officials deflect blame on each other. The traffic police said the highway police had prohibited their checking on the GT Road and nor did they perform the duty conscientiously by themselves.
They, however, had no answer to the complaints pouring in from rural areas.
According to the NH&MP officials, the traffic police avoided taking any action against the transporters because they collected monthly amounts. They said all the stands fell in the jurisdiction of traffic police, but they had still failed to check the public nuisance.