Pelni, PT KAI struggle against ticket scalpers
Pelni, PT KAI struggle against ticket scalpers
JAKARTA (JP): In anticipation of rampant scalping during
Christmas, New Year and the post-fasting Idul Fitri holiday,
state railway operator PT Kereta Api Indonesia (KAI) and state
shipping company PT Pelni are making necessary preparations to
curb the ticket brokers' operations.
Zaenal Abidin, spokesman of KAI's Jakarta Operational
Division, said the company would move its ticket reservation
center from Gambir Railway Station in Central Jakarta to the
company's office on Jl. Veteran, also in Central Jakarta, on Dec.
23.
"We'll print each passenger's name on their tickets," he told
The Jakarta Post.
"To curb their operations, we'll also deploy security
personnel at certain stations to apprehend the ticket scalpers,"
he said.
Ticket scalpers have recently become more aggressive, compared
to about three months ago. They easily, but clandestinely, sell
tickets to passengers who form long queues for tickets.
Train tickets to Yogyakarta, Semarang in Central Jakarta and
Bandung in West Java for the departure dates of Dec. 22 and 23
have already sold out.
Zaenal said the company had repeatedly raided the scalpers,
but to no avail.
"We have often caught ticket scalpers and handed them over to
the police. But the police released them one week later," he
said, adding that the ticket scalpers continued their activities
soon after their release.
He admitted that ticket scalping had involved the company's
employees.
"We fired five employees during the last festive season, after
they were proven guilty of scalping tickets," he said.
Zaenal said the company would provide 73 trains, which could
carry 75,139 passengers during the upcoming holidays.
"We will also operate five additional trains to anticipate the
boom in passenger numbers during the festive season. All can
carry 5,502 passengers," he said.
Zaenal said people could reserve tickets up to a maximum of
one week prior to their departure.
Pelni
Similarly, PT Pelni will also deploy security personnel to
combat rampant ticket scalping.
"We'll deploy security personnel at ticket counters to prevent
the practice," Pelni spokesman, Sudarsono, told the Post.
He said the company would also sell 75 percent of the tickets
to travel agents, by offering a 2.5 percent commission for each
ticket sold.
"But if they are proven to be selling tickets above the ticket
price, we'll cut our contracts with them," he said.
He said the company had signed contracts with 38 travel agents
in Jakarta, out of 266 travel agents throughout the country.
Sudarsono said PT Pelni would provide 23 ships with a total
capacity of 39,722 passengers for the festive season.
"We predict an increase in the number of passengers by 26.41
percent compared to last year," he said.
The company, with the approval of the government, would
increase the capacity of its ships to carry up to 25 to 50
percent more passengers, he said.
This is a strong increase compared to the usual raised
capacity of 20 percent.
"We'll naturally have on board extra life-saving devices such
as life rafts and life jackets," Sudarsono said.
In an effort to prevent rampant ticket scalping during future
festive seasons, KAI would centralize the ticket reservation
center at its office on Jl. Veteran in Central Jakarta, Zaenal
said.
"In the future, KAI's Jakarta Operational Division will
centralize all ticket selling during festive seasons at the Jl.
Veteran office," he said.
"The company expects that the passengers who come to the
railway stations are the ones who will depart."
"It will prevent ticket scalpers from coming to the station.
The centralization will make it easier to monitor the activities
of such scalpers," he said. (asa)