Overcharging illegal, says ICCC

By MARK HAIHUIE
OVERCHARGING by transport operators is an offence under the Price Regulation Act, according to the Independent Consumer and Competition Commission.
Acting chief executive officer Avi Hubert said this had been an ongoing issue in the transport sector and the Commission made attempts to address it through several initiatives.
Hubert said the initiatives included litigation of offenders and awareness encouraging consumers to report overcharging.
“PMV (public motor vehicle) operators continue to overcharge passengers and often jointly agreeing to raise fares arbitrarily without the approval of the ICCC,” Hubert said.
“Some operators claim that current fares are too low but fail to participate in the ICCC’s periodic during PMV and taxi review when requested.
“Under the current fare pricing arrangement, the price of PMV is fixed and operators should not overcharge above the ICCC gazetted fare.
“To do so is an offence under the Price Regulation Act.
“Overcharging by PMV operators is an on-going concern. The ICCC has so far investigate and prosecuted a number of offending PMV operators through the courts.
“These operators were fined and warned to respect and comply with the fares set by the ICCC.
“The ICCC has on numerous occasions issued public notices on the approved fares, released media statements regarding the position of the Commission, provided tips to commuters via the media on how to lodge a complaint and advised the public of the outcome of the Court decisions. Unfortunately, there are no quick fix solutions to the issues of overcharging in the absence of other alternate affordable and reliable public transportation service where consumer can exercise their right to choose.
“If there was, this would allow the transport market to correct itself to some extent in so far as influencing operator behavior or conduct quality of service.”