Govt to watch transport sector closely during festival rush
KATHMANDU, SEP 24 -
The Ministry of Labour and Transport Management has directed all 13 zonal transport management offices under it to carry out strict monitoring of the transport sector to control arbitrary fare hikes and overloading of passengers during the upcoming festivals.
Since the work load is less at transport offices during the festival season, the ministry has directed them to concentrate more on inspection activities.
This year, the government plans to keep a sharp eye out for buses carrying passengers on the roof. It will also check whether they have reserved seats for the physically disabled and women. The Transport Ministry decided on this move following directions from the prime minister and the Central Monitoring Committee and discussions with the National Federation of Nepal Transport Entrepreneurs.
“If transporters are found guilty of any improper practice, we will punish them as per the law and their route permit may also be scrapped,” said Anil Gurung, under secretary at the Transport Ministry. He added that they had also started maintaining a hotline number 4244991 to receive complaints from consumers and take action against errant transporters.
Two monitoring teams of the Department of Transport Management including representatives from the traffic police started monitoring in the Kathmandu Valley on Sept 12 to control black marketing in bus tickets. The department has already deputed a team to monitor overloading at Nagdhunga and plans to dispatch such teams to Thankot and Kalanki soon.
Kapil Dangol, officiating director general of the department, said that they were carrying out monitoring on a daily basis focusing on black marketing in tickets and overloading besides normal checking of legal documents. “We have been keeping a watch on the sales counters located in various parts of the capital and have also punished dozens of buses,” he added.
During the period Sept 12-23, the department took action against 85 vehicles in the valley for charging fares arbitrarily and overloading. Basudev Regmi, an official at the department, said that they had fined each vehicle Rs 2,000. “If they are caught a second time, they will be fined Rs 5,000 or more depending on the offence,” he said.
Meanwhile, in order to make public service delivery more effective, the Bagmati Zonal Transport Management Office has decided to issue driving licenses within five days of application and make heath tests stricter. Earlier, it used to take more than 10 days to obtain a driving license.
According to officials at the Transport Ministry, it has urged transport entrepreneurs to expand transport services by arranging additional vehicles during the festive season to provide service in an easy, reliable and safe way to the public. Transport management offices have also been directed to speed up the paperwork for registration of new vehicles as there is a rush to register brand new vehicles during festivals.
Transport entrepreneurs said that they would add vehicles based on the bookings received and their capacity. They opened ticket reservations on Sept 12. “We will not give any chance for complaints about a shortage of vehicles to any destination,” said Yogendra Karmacharya, president of the transport entrepreneurs’ federation.
Source: Kantipur
The Ministry of Labour and Transport Management has directed all 13 zonal transport management offices under it to carry out strict monitoring of the transport sector to control arbitrary fare hikes and overloading of passengers during the upcoming festivals.
Since the work load is less at transport offices during the festival season, the ministry has directed them to concentrate more on inspection activities.
This year, the government plans to keep a sharp eye out for buses carrying passengers on the roof. It will also check whether they have reserved seats for the physically disabled and women. The Transport Ministry decided on this move following directions from the prime minister and the Central Monitoring Committee and discussions with the National Federation of Nepal Transport Entrepreneurs.
“If transporters are found guilty of any improper practice, we will punish them as per the law and their route permit may also be scrapped,” said Anil Gurung, under secretary at the Transport Ministry. He added that they had also started maintaining a hotline number 4244991 to receive complaints from consumers and take action against errant transporters.
Two monitoring teams of the Department of Transport Management including representatives from the traffic police started monitoring in the Kathmandu Valley on Sept 12 to control black marketing in bus tickets. The department has already deputed a team to monitor overloading at Nagdhunga and plans to dispatch such teams to Thankot and Kalanki soon.
Kapil Dangol, officiating director general of the department, said that they were carrying out monitoring on a daily basis focusing on black marketing in tickets and overloading besides normal checking of legal documents. “We have been keeping a watch on the sales counters located in various parts of the capital and have also punished dozens of buses,” he added.
During the period Sept 12-23, the department took action against 85 vehicles in the valley for charging fares arbitrarily and overloading. Basudev Regmi, an official at the department, said that they had fined each vehicle Rs 2,000. “If they are caught a second time, they will be fined Rs 5,000 or more depending on the offence,” he said.
Meanwhile, in order to make public service delivery more effective, the Bagmati Zonal Transport Management Office has decided to issue driving licenses within five days of application and make heath tests stricter. Earlier, it used to take more than 10 days to obtain a driving license.
According to officials at the Transport Ministry, it has urged transport entrepreneurs to expand transport services by arranging additional vehicles during the festive season to provide service in an easy, reliable and safe way to the public. Transport management offices have also been directed to speed up the paperwork for registration of new vehicles as there is a rush to register brand new vehicles during festivals.
Transport entrepreneurs said that they would add vehicles based on the bookings received and their capacity. They opened ticket reservations on Sept 12. “We will not give any chance for complaints about a shortage of vehicles to any destination,” said Yogendra Karmacharya, president of the transport entrepreneurs’ federation.
Source: Kantipur
