Kathmandu, September 5
Once again, public transport entrepreneurs have refused to open advance ticket booking for the upcoming Dashain festival demanding that the government hike the fare before that.
In the past years also, the transporters had refused to open the booking on time, resulting in difficulties to the passengers leaving Kathmandu and other major cities of the country for their ancestral homes to celebrate the biggest festival of the country. Usually, the negotiations would end with some agreements.
If the transporters had agreed, the government had planned to open the advance booking from September 11. However, the transporters have argued that it is high time the government revised the public bus fare as it has been seven years since the government last revised the fare ‘scientifically’. Likewise, they say they are yet to make sufficient preparations for the advance booking.
Therefore, it has been almost certain that the government’s preparation will not be implemented.
In June, the government had decided to increase the public transport fare by 10 to 12 percent. However, it was withdrawn the same day fearing protests from the public.
Gogan Bahadur Hamal, Director General at the Department of Transport Management, says the department’s officials will talk to the entrepreneurs next week to discuss the concerns they have raised.
More than half of the Kathmandu population leave the capital city to celebrate the 15-day festival every year and most of them use the public buses.
