230 percent bus fare hike found at Pulo Gadung station
230 percent bus fare hike found at Pulo Gadung station
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Although Minister of Transportation Agum Gumelar ordered the
monitoring of ticket prices in bus terminals, passengers in Pulo
Gadung bus terminal still had to pay a fare increase of up to 230
percent on Monday.
Larsi, a staff member of the Indonesian Consumers Foundation
(YLKI), posted at the bus terminal, told The Jakarta Post that at
least 30 economy class bus passengers were forced to pay tickets
with a 230 percent increase over the normal fares.
She said that several standard buses, traveling between
Jakarta and Surabaya, had raised ticket prices by 230 percent
from the usual Rp 50,000 (US$50) to Rp 165,000.
The tickets for an air-conditioned bus from Jakarta to
Surabaya jumped by about 22 percent from the normal price of Rp
102,000 to Rp 127,000.
The increase violates the government regulation that fare
prices may only be increased by 12 percent during the Idul Fitri
holiday this year.
"Within the last two days we've received 30 reports of
complaints concerning the illegal hike of ticket fares ranging
from 15 to 230 percent," she said.
She said that the prices that passengers paid to the bus
operators did not tally with the price printed on the tickets.
Bus operators only gave unmarked tickets to passengers buying
tickets in their counters and required them to pay for the
tickets on board the buses.
If the passengers refused to pay as requested they would be
left stranded somewhere on the way to their destination.
YLKI added that another ruse was the use of fare listings made
by several bus companies to replace those issued by the Ministry
of Transportation, with an increase of at least 24 percent.
According to Larsi, most of the reports came from economy
class bus passengers from lower income groups with little formal
education.
The passengers, who reported the illegal fare rise, were asked
to give their copies of identity cards, phone numbers and the bus
tickets they bought to validate their complaints.
At the Lebak Bulus bus terminal in South Jakarta, passengers
were only asked to pay an increase of about 12 percent as
required by the government.
The head of the Lebak Bulus bus terminal, Sarbini, told the
Post that he had not received any reports of an increase in
ticket prices over the government stipulated rate.
Several passengers who were questioned about the bus fares at
the terminal agreed that they had not encountered any
difficulties and had no complaints about bus fares.
"I found no illegal increase in ticket prices here," said
Siti, 37, a housewife who was about to travel to Denpasar, Bali.
Another passenger, Hasmin, 48, a trader wanting to travel to
Palembang, South Sumatra shared Siti's opinion.
The YLKI also confirmed that Lebak Bulus bus station, at least
until Monday, was free of any ticket price violations.
Both Pulo Gadung and Lebak Bulus bus terminals saw no
significant increase in passengers on Monday.
Minister of Transportation Agum Gumelar has instructed the
director general of land transportation to investigate reports
that some bus companies have increased their fares by more than
12 percent as approved by the House of Representatives.
"Thank you for all the information, including information from
journalists. The director general of land transportation will
definitely ask the monitoring team to follow up on the reports,"
Agum was quoted by Antara as saying after officiating the
operation of Idul Fitri monitoring posts.
The monitoring posts involve all institutions related to
transportation during the upcoming Idul Fitri holiday, including
the police, ferry operator PT ASDP, state-owned shipping company
PT Pelni, state-owned bus operator Damri and the Meteorological
and Geophysics Agency (BMG).
Agum said companies that violated the government regulation on
the fare hike would be sanctioned.
"We may revoke a company's business permit if it continues to
violate the regulation after several warnings," the minister
said.
"Bus operators must comply with the percentage set by the
House. It must be upheld," Agum said.