56 drivers ticketed for illegally raising fares

JAKARTA (JP): Fifty-six public transportation drivers have been cited over the past two days for illegally raising their fares, official said on Sunday.

The head of the City Land Transportation Agency, Rustam Efendi, said 17 drivers were nabbed on Friday and the remaining 39 were ticketed on Saturday.

"They (drivers) received tickets for illegally raising the fares for passengers," Rustam said on the sidelines of a carnival held to celebrate the city's 474th anniversary.

The Jakarta administration has announced a 16.6 percent fare hike for public vans operating in the city. The increase does not apply to any other type of public transportation, including buses and minibuses.

The decision to raise the fare for public vans was made following public transportation strikes in the wake of the implementation of a fuel price hike.

The 56 drivers cited for illegally raising fares included the driver of a Mayasari P56 public bus serving the Pasar Baru- Ciledug route, who raised the fare to Rp 1,000 from the official fare of Rp 800; the driver of a Kopaja 19 minibus plying the Ragunan-Tanah Abang route, who hiked the fare to Rp 800 from Rp 700; and the driver of a Himpurna P77 public bus plying the Senen-Cimone route, who raised the fare to Rp 1,000 from Rp 800.

Some public van drivers were also cited for charging fares higher than those set by the city administration. These included the driver of a KWK U01 van serving the Tanjung Priok-Cacing route, the driver of a KWK U08 van serving the Tanjung Priok- Rorotan route, the driver of an M14 plying the Tanjung Priok- Cilincing route and the driver of a APB JU04 serving the Tanjung Priok-Kota route.

Rustam also said two other vehicles were prohibited from operating because they did not have proper route licenses.

The head of the city's Center for Social Tension Control, Raya Siahaan, said numerous public transportation vehicles at seven bus terminals in the capital were found to have illegally raised their fares.

"For example at the Senen terminal in Central Jakarta, Kopaja minibuses and PPD public buses raised their fares by Rp 100, and even the air-conditioned Bianglala buses serving the Senen- Ciledug route were charging Rp 3,000 instead of the normal Rp 2,500," Raya said. (emf)