PUNE: Taking the advantage of heavy rush owing to Diwali and vacations every year, the private bus operators increase the fares. However, with an initiative from the Traffic Branch of Pune police, this unfair practice may be controlled.
The traffic branch has appealed the private bus operators to stop overcharging the passengers.
Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) Pankaj Deshmukh held a meeting with private bus operators and travel booking agents on Tuesday and informed them that the Pune traffic police was launching a campaign to stop overcharging by the private operators.
In April 2018, the State government had fixed the maximum fare that the private buses could charge the travellers. According to the norms, the private bus operators could charge a maximum of 50 per cent more for each kilometre as compared to State-owned Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) buses in the same category (such as non-AC seater, AC seater, non-Ac sleeper, AC-sleeper).
“The traffic police will take action against bus operators or booking agents who violate this norm fixed by the State government. Also, our personnel in civil clothes will keep an eye on ticket bookings at important locations in the city and catch and penalise those found overcharging and violating the government norms,” said Deshmukh.
He also directed the bus owners to arrange all necessary facilities for passengers at the parking lots including drinking water, toilets and urinals and CCTV cameras.
“We have asked them to deploy security guards to ensure the safety of passengers and the regulation of traffic within the parking lots. Another precaution they are supposed to take is to ensure that the passengers were not fleeced by autorickshaw drivers after the get down in the city,” said Deshmukh.
When announced in April 2018, the move was expected to bring relief for migratory workers and students from Beed, Latur, Nagpur, Osmanabad, Aurangabad, Nashik, Amravati and Jalgaon among others. However, since the RTO has staff shortage, it has failed to implement the norms and ensure that the passengers are not fleeced.
