GUWAHATI, July 7 � Public activist Deven Dutta on Wednesday asserted that under the prevailing situation, there cannot be a hike in the rate of fares of the commercial vehicles. He said that the fares of the commercial vehicles should instead be decreased.
Pointing out to the chaos on the streets where commercial vehicles keep plying in violation of all the rules, Dutta said that until and unless the commercial vehicles adhere to the rules religiously, the government had no right to hike the fares. He also criticised the arbitrary decision of the commercial vehicles owners to increase the fares.
It needs to be mentioned here that without any government approval, the associations of transport owners had hiked the minimum fares of city buses and trekkers plying in the capital city from Rs 3 to Rs 5 and from Rs 5 to Rs 7 respectively with effect from July 1 which had led to many unsavory incidents. Following a discussion with the transport department, the associations agreed to temporarily charge the old fares till August 10.
�The fare revision committee for the commercial vehicles is nothing but an attempt to fleece the commuters,� said Dutta adding that the inefficiency of the transport minister has triggered a crisis on the roads and brought inconvenience to the common people.
Dutta further criticized the transport minister for his inaction when the associations of the commercial vehicle owners had declared in June that the fares would be hiked from July 1. �Why didn�t the minister take stern action soon after the declaration?� questioned Dutta.
On the other hand, Dutta said that the auto rickshaw operators were openly flouting the rules by not installing fare meters, but the authorities concerned were blind towards this anarchy too. �If observed carefully, one will find that many auto rickshaw and auto van operators do not have license and are dubious citizens,� said Dutta.
