The commuters of Karachi have expressed dismay over the anti-commuter attitude of the Sindh transport department which once again took sides with the private transporters of the city and befooled the citizens by insignificant decrease in bus fares. All legal, just and genuine demands of the commuters regarding streamlining bus fares on proper cost basis, regularising public transport sector as per laws and rules and ending economic exploitation of commuters were skilfully swept under the rug when the government officials and transporters held meeting to solve the commuters’ issues.
The commuters demanded eliminating the distinction between minibuses and coaches and introducing same fare slabs for them as there is no difference between them and both allow commuters to travel by standing in the crowded vehicles. They reminded the Sindh government that higher fares had been allowed to ‘coaches’ on the condition that they would run by seat-by-seat rule. As they coaches do not run by this rule and allow commuters to travel while standing in the buses or perching on their rooftops, there is no justification under any law to allow them charging higher fares as it is tantamount to breach of contract and could be challenged in the court of law by consumer protection groups.
The transport department again rejected the just demand of the commuters to fix bus fares on the use of cheap CNG and allow transporters to charge fares based on petrol use on the days when CNG is not available. There is no justification to charge fare on the basis of use of diesel on the days when CNG is available in the city. This is against the law and justice and a blatant violation of consumer rights.
The transport department again took no action to remove the roof racks of minibuses as per the directives of the Supreme Court of Pakistan which is a matter of serious concern and can be termed as disrespect to the apex court. The transport department has also failed to implement the official bus colour code, issuance of tickets of charging fare, mandatory uniform and license of driver and conductor and banning road unfit vehicles to ply on the city roads.
However, the transport department has offered insignificant benefit to the commuters by revising the fares of the public transport of intra-city routes.
According to a notification, the fare of buses up to 5 KMs will remain the same at Rs 10, however, the existing fare up to 10 and 15 KMs have been reduced by Re 1 from Rs 15 and Rs 16 respectively.
The notification further stated that fare of minibuses up to to 5 KMs will remain same at Rs 10, and up to 10 KMs existing fare of Rs 15 has been revised and fixed at Rs 14 and up to 15 KMs the existing fare of minibuses has been revised and fixed at Rs 16.
The fare of the coaches up to 10 KMs which was Rs 17 has been re-fixed at Rs 16 by reducing Re 1 while the fare of coaches up to 30 KMs will remain unchanged at Rs 18.
The notification further added that students have been allowed 50 per cent discount of normal fare.
Interestingly, the coaches had already been charging Rs 20 instead of Rs 18 for a destination up to 30 kilometres and malpractice is still continuing as major political stakeholders of Karachi are silent on exploitation of the city commuters. The commuters feel duped again by the powerful nexus of bureaucracy and transporters and demand justice from all available avenues of justice in Pakistan.
