DoTM makes online ticket booking mandatory for all medium and long distance public vehicles

Published On: October 15, 2020 08:00 AM NPT By: Republica | @RepublicaNepal

KATHMANDU, Oct 15: The government has made the online ticket issuance of the passenger bus services mandatory for those operating in medium and long routes.

Enforcing a new directive on online ticket purchase/sale for public transport service providers on Tuesday, the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) has asked all medium and long distance passenger vehicles to go digital. The new rule seeks to make the ticket selling more transparent, competitive and safe in view of the fast spreading coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Public transport covering 100-250 km one way distance has been categorised as medium distance while those covering more than 250 km have been put under the long-distance type. The service providers have been asked to integrate their computer software with the DoTM’s Application Programming Interface (API).

With the new provisions in place, transport companies have to make a real time entry of the details including the seat plan and number of unoccupied seats in the passenger vehicles. “In the name of online ticket service, transporters cannot charge travelers with extra fares than the one fixed by the government bodies,” reads the directive.

The long-distance public transportation services resumed on September 17 after a hiatus of six months following the decision of the government to impose nationwide lockdown. Many transporters have already started offering online ticket booking facilities in view of the upcoming Dashain festival.

The new directives also makes it mandatory for transporters to open ticket booking for general people three days in advance of the actual date of the departure. Such bookings should be opened 30 days in advance during the main festival season.

The directive allows transporters to take a 10 percent of the total fare as cancellation charge if any passenger chooses to cancel a ticket booked earlier 24 hours before the departure time. The cancellation charge has been fixed at 33 percent of the fare if the ticket is cancelled in the last hour.

Timely departure of passenger vehicles, use of identity cards by drivers and other support staff of the transport companies and daily overhauling and cleaning of the vehicles are among the new rules introduced for passenger vehicles in the new directives.