22 bus companies violate Idul Fitri fare policy

Damar Harsanto, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A small undercover team assigned to monitor buses during the Idul Fitri exodus reported Thursday that 42 bus crews from 22 bus companies committed violations ranging from raising fares above the allowed ceiling to dropping off passengers before reaching their destinations.

City Transportation Agency head Nurrachman said Thursday his office would pass on the report to the Directorate General of Land Transportation at the Ministry of Transportation for a further follow-up.

"Since our authority is limited to monitoring, we will let the Directorate General of Land Transportation impose sanctions on the violators. Now we are in the process of collecting evidence and (making a) report," Nurrachman said at City Hall.

A 25-strong team assigned by the agency discovered that some bus crews had raised their fares from 3.76 percent at the lowest to a hefty 645 percent.

Team members posed as bus passengers departing from Jakarta a week before the Idul Fitri on Nov. 3 and Nov. 4 and returned to the city a week later.

A crew in the Lantera Jaya bus group that drives the Jakarta- Lampung route charged passengers Rp 190,000 per trip, well above the ceiling of only Rp 25,500 per person.

Another crew serving the Jakarta-Yogyakarta route dropped off their passengers at the Mirasari Restaurant in Sokaraja, Purwokerto -- halfway to Yogyakarta -- without a clear reason and leaving them all stranded.

City councillor Fathi R Siddhiq, who is also secretary of the council's Commission D overseeing transportation and development affairs, urged the Directorate General of Land Transportation to immediately impose sanctions on the badly behaved crews.

"Heavy sanctions must be handed down to those operators that have repeatedly violated the regulations. The Directorate General could suspend their licenses for several months if necessary," Fathi said on Thursday.

If the government turned a blind eye to violations discovered by its own officers, it would further undermine public trust in the government and the city administration, Fathi said.

Last year, the Ministry of Transportation penalized 51 buses belonging to 29 operators for breaching the fare ceilings during the Idul Fitri exodus.