Bus ticket pre-booking for Dashain uncertain

Kathmandu, September 6

Like previous years, commuters are likely to face hassles while travelling to their hometown ahead of Dashain, as transport entrepreneurs have come up with various demands prior to opening pre-booking of bus tickets for long destinations.

While the government has been requesting transport entrepreneurs to open pre-booking of bus tickets at least one month ahead of the Dashain festival, the latter has urged the government to raise fare of public transportation and unfreeze the bank accounts of transport bodies first.

“We’re aware that pre-booking of bus tickets should be opened on time. However, soaring fuel price has raised operation cost of vehicles, and we are not in a position to operate buses in long routes while incurring loss,” said Yogendra Nath Karmacharya, president of Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs.

As per him, the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) should raise public transportation fare scientifically as the constant surge in price of petroleum products, especially diesel, has been adding to financial burden on transport entrepreneurs.

Karmacharya also requested the government to unfreeze bank accounts of transport bodies, which have frozen since more than three months.

In the wake of protests launched by supporters of transport cartels, the government had frozen the bank accounts of almost 250 transport bodies promoting syndicate in the transportation industry.

However, the government is unlikely to fulfil these demands of transport entrepreneurs before Dashain. Though the DoTM is looking into prospects of revising the public transportation fare, considering that it has not been adjusted since almost three years, the department’s Director General Lawanya Dhakal stated that fare revision would be possible only after Tihar.

“We are not very keen on adjusting the public transportation fare prior to Dashain as it might affect passengers just ahead of the festive season,” said Dhakal.

Similarly, government officials also informed that unfreezing the bank accounts of transport bodies would not be possible prior to completion of the government’s probe into their property. Different government agencies, including DoTM, have been probing movable and immovable properties of transport bodies that were backing cartel system in the industry.

Moreover, officials said that unfreezing bank accounts of transport bodies is not possible unless transport bodies switch to company models. The government has given a deadline of mid-January for transport bodies to transform into the company model.

Meanwhile, the DoTM has called a meeting with transport entrepreneurs on Tuesday to discuss opening pre-booking of bus tickets.

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