MANY PMV users in Lae are refusing to pay the new fare of 70 toea which came into effect last week.
They complain that the buses are not completing their routes.
“They are charging 70 toea for travelling from Eriku to the market when they had just dropped off passengers from Kamkumung,” a resident said.
The route starts from either Igam, Bumayong, and Telikom College run past Unitech, onto Kamkumung and Eriku and end at the Market.
But most operators stop at Kamkumung, then re-start at Eriku, to end at the market.
Instead of getting 70 toea worth for the whole journey, each leg was worth 50 toea. By using this method, PMVs were cheating the commuters, another resident claimed.
When the fares were increased on Nov 19, passengers complained that they were overcharged while operators blamed passengers for not paying the new fare.
Operators also complained that maintenance costs were high due to the poor road conditions.
When the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission announced the new fares, it warned that action would be taken if operators failed to complete their designated route.
Passengers are still waiting for action to be taken.