Crackdown down unscrupulous bus operators
By Pelekelo Liswaniso
TRAVELLING by bus or coach, especially now that we have a lot of road-worthy fleets is supposed to be enjoyable but not any more because of the unbecoming behavior of some bus operators especially at Inter-City Bus Terminus in Lusaka.
Despite the abundance of buses in the country, the terminus has become a no- go area and a nightmare if one has no choice but to use a bus to travel out of the capital and this is very disturbing.
What first hits a traveler the moment they enter the Inter-City Terminus area is a horde of calls boys, who in their quest to get a tip from bus crews literary drag customers to the waiting buses.
Worse still, passengers are subjected to unwarranted ridicule and unnecessary inconvenience, perpetrated by some unscrupulous transport operators who claim to be running scheduled buses when in fact not.
Travellers are made to buy tickets in advance on promises by unscrupulous bus crews that the buses they were boarding would start off at a given time when this was not the case.
Many travellers including pupils returning to schools are forced to wait for long hours before the buses they have boarded start off for their destinations. Most of them end up travelling or arriving late in the night, which is risky, while others end up spending nights on the buses to wait for dawn the following day to get to their final destinations.
There is a lot of unfair business practice amongst bus operators and having a Police Post at the station was not helping matters because nothing is done to address the complaints and yet some of the cases border on shameless day-light robbery, fraud, cheating and harassment, contrary to the laws of Zambia.
What is more shocking is that some bus operators have allegedly employed people to sit on buses to pretend they were passengers whilst they were not and were being paid K20,000 at the end of the day for conning the travelling public. Commuter Rights Association of Zambia (CRAZ), President Aaron Kamuti disclosed this yesterday. Worse still, some distraught passengers are denied refunds when they choose to leave the buses.
It makes sad reading to learn on page 3 of today’s Zambia Daily Mail that passengers’ rights are abused on a daily basis and that the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) has been flooded with complaints.
Zambia is a country of laws and no one is above the law. It’s unacceptable that some bus operators seem to derive pleasure cheating and troubling the travelling public.
We are, however, cheered by the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) which has warned that it will start revoking licences from operators who abuse passenger’s rights.
Hats off to RTSA director, Frederick Mwalusaka, who said yesterday, that the agency cannot sit idly while the public were being cheated and ridiculed by some bus operators.
As Mr Mwalusaka stated, time is very important in any business but this has not been the case with the operators at Inter-City Bus terminus.
For those who were in the dark about their rights, Mr Mwalusaka explained that travellers have the right under the Transport Act to get a substantial amount of the fare as refund any time they changed their mind not to travel and it was illegal for operators to refuse to do so
.
He said customers had the right to be refunded if they were not happy with the services being offered by any operator.
Yes, any operator found wanting should firmly be dealt with to bring sanity at Inter- City Bus Terminus than allow gangsters to control the area.
We are anxious to know the outcome of the petition by RTSA to the Minister of Local government and Housing Benny Tetamashimba to include the agency on the proposed boards, which would help regulate Inter-City Bus Terminus and the industry in general.
We are also asking for extra vigilance from the travelling public not only those who use the Inter-City Terminus in Lusaka but elsewhere in the country to report any misconduct by bus operators so that there is order at the stations and on our the roads.
Further measures should also be introduced to protect the travellers and we hope RTSA will consider opening a help desk at the station to curb unscrupulous behaviour.
We urge the public to also report cases of misconduct to the CRAZ and the Zambia Consumer Association (ZACA), who are the watchdogs of consumer rights.
TRAVELLING by bus or coach, especially now that we have a lot of road-worthy fleets is supposed to be enjoyable but not any more because of the unbecoming behavior of some bus operators especially at Inter-City Bus Terminus in Lusaka.
Despite the abundance of buses in the country, the terminus has become a no- go area and a nightmare if one has no choice but to use a bus to travel out of the capital and this is very disturbing.
What first hits a traveler the moment they enter the Inter-City Terminus area is a horde of calls boys, who in their quest to get a tip from bus crews literary drag customers to the waiting buses.
Worse still, passengers are subjected to unwarranted ridicule and unnecessary inconvenience, perpetrated by some unscrupulous transport operators who claim to be running scheduled buses when in fact not.
Travellers are made to buy tickets in advance on promises by unscrupulous bus crews that the buses they were boarding would start off at a given time when this was not the case.
Many travellers including pupils returning to schools are forced to wait for long hours before the buses they have boarded start off for their destinations. Most of them end up travelling or arriving late in the night, which is risky, while others end up spending nights on the buses to wait for dawn the following day to get to their final destinations.
There is a lot of unfair business practice amongst bus operators and having a Police Post at the station was not helping matters because nothing is done to address the complaints and yet some of the cases border on shameless day-light robbery, fraud, cheating and harassment, contrary to the laws of Zambia.
What is more shocking is that some bus operators have allegedly employed people to sit on buses to pretend they were passengers whilst they were not and were being paid K20,000 at the end of the day for conning the travelling public. Commuter Rights Association of Zambia (CRAZ), President Aaron Kamuti disclosed this yesterday. Worse still, some distraught passengers are denied refunds when they choose to leave the buses.
It makes sad reading to learn on page 3 of today’s Zambia Daily Mail that passengers’ rights are abused on a daily basis and that the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) has been flooded with complaints.
Zambia is a country of laws and no one is above the law. It’s unacceptable that some bus operators seem to derive pleasure cheating and troubling the travelling public.
We are, however, cheered by the Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA) which has warned that it will start revoking licences from operators who abuse passenger’s rights.
Hats off to RTSA director, Frederick Mwalusaka, who said yesterday, that the agency cannot sit idly while the public were being cheated and ridiculed by some bus operators.
As Mr Mwalusaka stated, time is very important in any business but this has not been the case with the operators at Inter-City Bus terminus.
For those who were in the dark about their rights, Mr Mwalusaka explained that travellers have the right under the Transport Act to get a substantial amount of the fare as refund any time they changed their mind not to travel and it was illegal for operators to refuse to do so
.
He said customers had the right to be refunded if they were not happy with the services being offered by any operator.
Yes, any operator found wanting should firmly be dealt with to bring sanity at Inter- City Bus Terminus than allow gangsters to control the area.
We are anxious to know the outcome of the petition by RTSA to the Minister of Local government and Housing Benny Tetamashimba to include the agency on the proposed boards, which would help regulate Inter-City Bus Terminus and the industry in general.
We are also asking for extra vigilance from the travelling public not only those who use the Inter-City Terminus in Lusaka but elsewhere in the country to report any misconduct by bus operators so that there is order at the stations and on our the roads.
Further measures should also be introduced to protect the travellers and we hope RTSA will consider opening a help desk at the station to curb unscrupulous behaviour.
We urge the public to also report cases of misconduct to the CRAZ and the Zambia Consumer Association (ZACA), who are the watchdogs of consumer rights.
posted by aydpels @ 6:50 AM
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