Kathmandu, October 15 : Public vehicles are flouting the government’s direction by continuously charging 50 percent extra fare to general passengers.
Revoking its earlier decision, the government on October 12 (Monday) directed them not to impose such extra fare and also carry passengers full of their capacity. Before this, it had decided that they could impose the same along with limiting the number of their passengers to half of their seat capacity.in order to control the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In violation of the government instruction issued three days back , the vehicles operating in the Kathmandu Valley continue to charge more fare.
The City Yatayat (Ba 2 Kha 1204) running at the Ring Road route charged its passenger, Prem Bahadur Thapa, Rs 25 for travelling the distance of four kilometers. “I was forced to pay Rs 14 more for the same, which is against the latest direction of the government,” he bemoans .
When asked about this anamoly, Rameshwor Prasad Yadav, Spokesperson for the Metropolitan Traffic Police Division said they were yet to receive the order in writing although the Cabinet decision was heard through media. As a result, they were finding it difficult to implement the decision, he added. However, the vehicles charging more than 50 percent fare have faced action, said the Division. On Wednesday, 42 public vehicles in the Valley charging more than 50 percent fare faced action, it said.
Information officer at the Department of Transport Management, Dr Lok Nath Bhusal said they could not talk about the matter as they were yet to be informed of the Cabinet decision in writing. —
