Bus drivers, taxis told not to increase fares

JAKARTA (JP): The land transport owners association, Organda, cannot punish its members for unlawful increases in fares, but says it will call on them not to effect such increases.

Aip Syarifuddin, head of the Jakarta branch of Organda, told The Jakarta Post yesterday that the organization has no authority to take administrative or other measures against bus or taxi drivers who arbitrarily increase their fares.

"All the organization can do is call on the members to stop the unlawful practice. We regret the drivers' behavior and we cannot condone such practices, but we cannot punish them," he said.

The statements were made by Aip in connection with the illegal increase in several public transportation fares in Jakarta.

Many taxi drivers operating at the Gambir railway station in Jakarta refuse to use their meters and some of them have changed the flagfall from Rp 900 to Rp 1,500.

Organda has proposed that transportation fares be increased by an average of 130 percent. However, the ministry of transportation has turned down the proposal.

Lodjin and Kusnadi, taxi drivers operating at Gambir railway station said yesterday they had heard about the proposed increase in taxis' flagfall. "But it has yet to be implemented," they said.

Despite the fact that the price of car spare parts has increased, the drivers said they did not agree with the increase, saying that it would cause "stability disorder".

"There would surely be complaints from taxi drivers if there were an increase," Kusnadi said.

Lodjin said that for two or three months after the last official increase, taxi drivers commonly chose to stay at home until "the situation became normal" and the number of passengers returned to its previous level.

The city land transportation control agency has the right to recommend that the government revoke the permit of a transportation firm whose drivers are found to be in breach of the regulations, an official of the agency said.

The official, who asked not to be named, declined to say what the agency would do in relation to those increasing transport tariffs illegally. "Please ask the head of the agency. But he is not available now," the source said.

Aip called on the drivers to stop increasing fares while the organization is trying to make the Organda proposal to increase the fares understood by the public.

"We are still lobbying the government and non-government organizations. Any illegal actions will only harm our efforts," he said.

He said that his organization met with the Indonesian Consumers Association yesterday, is planning to meet the transportation minister today and will meet the city council tomorrow.

Many forms of public transportation which use toll roads have been asking passengers to pay Rp 50 above the fares set by the city administration.

A gubernatorial decree has already stipulated that the fares of public transportation providers that use toll roads is to be Rp 50 higher than the original fares. Thus, with the illegal increase, the fares are Rp 100 higher than the former rates.

The drivers argue that the increases are necessary to cover the newly-raised toll fee because the government has increased the toll road fees.

Chairman of the City Council's commission on development affairs said yesterday that the increase is unlawful and that the city administration has already compensated buses for the toll increases.

"It is unlawful and as compensation for the toll road fee increase the city administration has allowed the buses to take more passengers than their capacity," he said.

Bandjar said the authority should revoke the permits of the vehicles if they refuse to obey the regulation because such behavior is harming the public.

Commissioner Saud Rachman said Organda should be responsible for this behavior and take firm action against the drivers and the crews.(yns/29/03)