56 drivers ticketed for illegally raising fares
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)