SHILLONG: The sudden hike in the fare of buses under the Shillong Public Transport Service (SPTS) and maxi cabs under the Shillong Supplementary Public Transport Service (SSPTS) has irked commuters in the city who have complained that the bus and maxi cab fares have now been made almost equal to what is being charged by the local cabbies.
Some commuters complained why the passengers were being made to bear the brunt of fare hike when the buses and maxi cabs were being operated with money obtained from the Central scheme under JNNURM.
According to them, instead of taking corrective steps to improve the ticket system which is the main reason for the buses and maxi cabs running into losses, the Government has put additional burden on the commuters to recover the losses.
The commuters also slammed the Government for coming up with hollow announcements of introducing smart cards and other measures to increase the profit without actually doing anything till date.
The Meghalaya Urban Development Authority (MUDA) had in July-end issued a notification announcing the hike in fares for SPTS buses and SSPTS maxi cabs which were implemented from August 1.
According to the Secretary, MUDA, the fares were hiked due to increase in fuel and maintenance costs.
