YLKI Calls For Stronger Sanctions

Jakarta, Aug 22 (ANTARA) - The Indonesian Consumers Institute Foundation (YLKI) has called for stronger sanctions against public transport operators that have violated tariff rules during the Id-ul-Fitr holidays. "The transportation ministry has taken action against bus operators that have committed such violations, but the current sanctions have not been enough to deter them," YLKI executive chairman Sudaryatmo said here on Tuesday. "The ministry only suspends the operating licences of individual buses, not of the bus companies (PO) that own them," he noted. According to Sudaryatmo, the sanction does not have much effect because a PO has hundreds of buses. "A PO which has 100 buses will not be really affected if one of its buses stops running," he said, adding that the government should suspend the operating licence of the PO. "If the operating licence of a PO is frozen for several months, for example, it will have a great impact and bus operators will take heed of the rules," Sudaryatmo explained. He noted that most of the tariff violations took place in economy-class buses, in which tickets were not sold according to the official rates. "The government has regulated the tariff for economy-class buses -unlike executive and business-class buses, in which ticket prices follow the market mechanism," Sudaryatmo said.