Eight Cirebon bus firms may forfeit licenses for illegal holiday fare hikes

Nana Rukmana, The Jakarta Post, Cirebon, West Java

At least eight bus companies may face sanctions from the local transportation office as well as police for illegally raising their fares before, during and after the Idul Fitri holiday.

The eight companies, which usually operate buses from Harjamukti terminal in Cirebon, include PO Sahabat, serving the Cirebon-Merak and Cirebon-Bandung routes; PO Dwi Karya, serving Cirebon-Bogor; and PO Warga Baru, serving Cirebon-Jakarta.

Also sanctioned will be PO Langgeng Jaya, serving the Cirebon- Sukabumi route; PO Sono, serving Cirebon-Surabaya; PO Harapan Kita, serving Cirebon-Probolinggo; PO Coyo, serving Cirebon- Semarang; and PO Adi Bakti, serving Cirebon-Tasikmalaya.

"I believe more bus companies may face sanctions, and we are awaiting more complaints from the public over the illegal fare hikes," said Djayadi, head of the Cirebon transportation office.

"Seven days prior to Idul Fitri and four days afterwards, we sent teams out to monitor the bus drivers, considering that in several cases, the fare hikes were made by the drivers without the consent of their companies," he told reporters on Monday.

He said the office was filing reports on the violations and planned to submit them to the central office in Jakarta, which has the authority to impose sanctions against the companies.

Also inserted in the reports were the license plate numbers, as "other buses from the same companies did not violate the regulation on fares".

Muslims the world over celebrated Idul Fitri on Nov. 25 and Nov. 26 in various ways. In Indonesia, it is customary for people working and living in the cities to return to their hometowns to celebrate the holiday with family and relatives.

The rising number of passengers overburden airports, seaports, bus terminals and railway stations in the days before, during and after the holiday.

However, the rise in passengers also meant increases in the number of violations committed by transportation companies, from illegal levies to illegal fare hikes.

"The hikes vary from 7 percent to 25 percent above the normal rates," Djayadi said.

Before Idul Fitri, the Cirebon-Jakarta bus fare was around Rp 20,000 (US$2.3) per passenger, but several buses illegally hiked their fares to around Rp 30,000.

For instance, PO Warga Baru increased its fares to Rp 30,000, while business-class buses owned by PO Sono on the Cirebon- Surabaya route increased their fares from Rp 95,000 to Rp 105,000.