HYDERABAD, Dec 19: The district council on Tuesday formed a committee on Tuesday to ensure that the transporters did not charge fares more than the rate fixed by Regional Transport Authority (RTA) before and during Eids.

The council took action over growing traveller complaints the bus operators compelled them to pay exorbitantly high fare for Hyderabad-Karachi journey and vice versa especially on holidays and Eids.

Convenor Zafar Ali Rajput formed a six member committee with Munawar Zai as its head to hold meetings with RTA officials and transporters before submitting a report on the problem to the council.

A resolution tabled by Nasir Baloch stated that the bus operators not only charged heavily but they also subjected passengers to humiliation and shoved women. "Bus operators often treat passengers like dirt and even shove women. On occasions like Eid they are made to pay Rs300 for a journey to Karachi," he said.Majority of members supported the resolution and added that the buses plying on routes to interior districts not even allow people to board Mirpurkhas-bound if they wanted to get down at Tandojam. "It happens during evening hours when they even deny women travelling in buses," said Rozina Khan who is from Tandojam.

Abbas Khan who operates a local van stand described charging Rs300 fare as unfair but largely defended transporters saying they were already charging Rs65 less than the RTA-approved fare Rs185.

Mehboob Abro condemned the practice and linked the problem of traffic congestion to ongoing development works in the city. He said that such schemes had not even been approved by the council.

Q Hakim, member of a TMA-formed task force for traffic, clarified that the schemes were part of Hyderabad Development Package (HDP), funded by provincial and federal governments and thus did not require approval from the council.

The convenor directed the DPO of Hyderabad to set up complaint centres at bus stands to receive passengers' complaints about overcharging and urge the RTA to ensure implementation of its approved rates.

Javed Kardar's resolution on labour laws' implementation that was referred to the council’s committee on Community Development Department called for forming a committee to redress labourers’ grievances. It also demanded that a labour officer should appear in the council.

Mohammad Ali Gohar said that labour laws could nowhere be seen implemented. Work charge employees were never regularised and they continued to work at the mercy of factories' owners, he said.

Ishtiaq Ahmed alleged that labour officers who were always had in gloves with factory owners were least interested in safeguarding workers' rights. The owners struck underhand deals with unions to avoid granting labourers their rights, he said.

Munawar Zai lashed out at labour federations for their failure in protecting labourers' rights with the result that the factories had employed minor children who were paid next to nothing.

Abbas Khan complained that preventing movement of buses and vans from crossing Kotri Bridge had added to people’s problems who could rarely find a direct conveyance beyond Kotri.