Residents of various areas of Ramban district have accused Public transport operators of overcharging of fares from the passengers on different routes in the district.
More cases of overcharging have been reported from those routes where the concerned department has issued less number of route permits.
SRTC buses are almost negligible in the district as a result people mostly rely on public transport to reach their destinations. Previously passenger fare was hiked by the government after the demand by the transporter unions but in spite of the hike, passenger vehicles charge extra fare with impunity, complain the commuters.
The issue often leads to heated arguments and verbal duels between passengers and conductors and operators of passenger vehicles especially TaTa magic Autos.
“Rupees 5 is fixed for three kilometers of one staff but on some routes operators are charging even Rs 20 by the operators of TaTa magic Autos. There is no check on them by the authorities,” complained a passenger Zubair Ahmed from Seri.
However the officers of transport department Ramban said that they did not receive any information about overcharging of passenger fare from commuters in Ramban. “Fares have already been fixed for various types of public transport vehicles plying on various routes across the district. If a passenger irrespective of any route is charged extra he should inform the ARTO and we will take strict action against the erring drivers,” said an official of Transport department.