Sir,
I would like to draw the attention of the concerned RTO and ARTO towards the offence of charging of arbitrary and excessive passenger fare on Jammu-Poonch Bus route. The height of the problem is that neither the rate lists showing bus fare are displayed in the vehicles and/or the booking office nor the bus conductors have any tickets for the passengers and on demand for tickets they start misbehaving with the passengers. There seems no authorities to have some control over this matter.
Similar is position of other vehicles including Tempo traveller and cars etc. There are no practice of issuing tickets to the passengers at all. They also charge arbitrary date but don’t issue any ticket. This is a big malpractice in terms of the Consumer Protection Act which needs to be checked at all costs.
There are two main ill effects of this malpractice.On one hand, the passengers are cheated by the vehicle operators while on the other hand the passengers are unable to take any legal action as and when required by the circumstances.As per norms, the fare rates as approved by the concerned person should be displayed both inside the vehicles and in booking office. Besides, the concerned operators should also be bound to issue proper tickets showing distance from the point of boarding and destination, fare rate and amount of fate charged.
It is the basic duty and responsibility of the RTO and ARTO to ensure imlimentation the rules and norms fixed by the Government. And it is hoped to the matter will be viewed seriously in the best interest of common passengers.
O P Sharma
Bagnoti Nowshera