Commuters, who should be enjoying lower fares following the decline in the international price of crude, have fallen victim to overcharging because of feeble monitoring by the government.
Rita Baskota, a resident of Koteshwar, took a taxi to Sundhara and paid Rs 700. She had little choice because she was pregnant. “The cab driver refused to run by meter and insisted on my paying Rs 900,” Baskota told Republica, adding, “After a lot of haggling, he settled for Rs 700.”
Baskota, who often visits Sundhara where her brother lives, said, “My experience is that the fare by meter between Sundhara and Koteshwar is less than Rs 300."
Baskota's is just a representative case. Taxi passengers across the Valley have been fleeced no end ever since the fuel crisis started because of the Indian blockade. “Cabbies always cheat people. This time they are cheating even more,” said Ram Kumar Rai of Chabahil, adding, “The problem is with the government's failure to monitor the market rather than with the cab operators.”
Rai, a trekking guide by occupation, often has to bring domestic and foreign trekkers by taxi to hotels in Thamel.
Meanwhile, none of the cabbies wanted to speak to Republica about this issue. They tried to slip away, mumbling that fuel prices were high.
Interestingly, monitoring carried out by the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) on Tuesday also found that most taxis are overcharging passengers and not running their meters. Acting on complaints, the department inspected a number of taxies and found that they had been charging four times the normal fares.
Basanta Adhikari, spokesperson at DoTM, informed that 10 cabbies found overcharging passengers have been taken under control and will be subjected to legal action. “Supply of fuel is becoming normal. We will take serious action against cabs still fleecing passengers on the pretext of fuel scarcity,” he added.
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