Government action against Dashain bus ticket cheats

KATHMANDU, SEP 25 -The government has taken action against transport entrepreneurs collecting higher fares during advance ticket bookings for Dashain. Through the monitoring, the Department of Transport Management had found some booking counters at Sundhara and New Bus Park overcharging customers.

Focusing on the advance ticket reservations for the Dashain rush; the department, in cooperation with police, has been carrying out daily monitoring on advance ticketing for the last week. “We have started taking action on each transporter or committee charging higher fares from customers,” said Mukti Prasad KC, spokesperson of the department.

He added that they have been issuing notice to the transporters for clarification, and those not abiding would be punished as per law. During the monitoring, Mahakali Yatayat was found to be overcharging customers on the Kathmandu-Dhangadhi route from ticker counters in New Bus Park, according to Baikuntha Sapkota, inspection officer of the department. Similarly, counters that were assigned to issue advance tickets for Kathmandu-Baglung, Beni, and Parbat were found to be charging higher fares than the government set price from its counters at Sundhara.


As per the government set rate, the fare for Kathmandu-Dhangadhi is Rs 1,299; however, the Mahakali Yatayat counter at New Bus Park had charged Rs 1,399 while taking reservations.

Jaljala Yatayat had received bookings at Rs 1,090 against the set fare of Rs 973 for Kathmandu-Liwang.  Sapkota said the department would continue the monitoring so that the customers could get the tickets easily at the government fixed fare.

As per the Vehicle and Transport Management Act, the department can impose fines up to Rs 5,000 for transport entrepreneurs overcharging customers. During the monitoring, some counters located at Gaushala were also found reserving tickets for vehicles bound to the eastern part of the country before the formally announced date for ticket booking. Such an act is considered as hoarding, according to the department.