MIANWALI, Nov 30: Prices of petroleum products are decreasing considerably but owners of public transport vehicles plying on inter-city and local routes have refused to decrease inflated fares and they are fleecing passengers without any check.

Through a notification, the regional transport authority (RTA) secretary had recently fixed inter-city fares at 74 paisa per kilometer. Accordingly, fare from Mianwali to Sargodha should have been reduced to Rs100 but transporters are still charging Rs160.

Same is the case on other routes including Mianwali to Lahore, Mianwali to Multan, Manwali to Rawalpindi and Mianwali to Bannu beside local routes within the district.

When locals complained to the district coordination officer (DCO), he directed deputy district officer (DDO) for revenue to launch a drive against the transporters involved in overcharging. A raiding team headed by Revenue DDO Captain Mian Adil Iqbal (retired) has impounded 26 buses and 12 vans in last couple of days.

The district administration also directed rickshaw drivers to decrease their fares but they also refused. Transporters of this district are so powerful due to their political leverage that they don’t pay any heed to the orders of the administration and they were still charging excessive fares despite impounding of several vehicles.—Correspondent