The Parliamentary Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has directed the government to make arrangements for safe and hassle-free travelling of public during upcoming festival season.

Expressing concerns over difficulties faced by public while travelling to their hometowns during festive time, the committee members asked the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport (MoPIT) to make sure the bus tickets are easily available.

Lawmakers also raised question over the government decision to hike the ticket fare ahead of the festival.

 Pushpa Kumari Karna, a lawmaker from Nepal Communist Party (NCP), told the committee that the people were not getting bus tickets for Dashain festival.

“The government has increased the ticket fare just before the festival. Despite the hike in ticket fare, public is struggling to get tickets,” said Karna.

Responding to the concerns raised by lawmakers, MoPIT Secretary Madhu Sudan Adhikari said the government has made arrangements for adding new buses on long-distance routes to facilitate travelling during Dashain.  

Lawmakers also asked the government to give justification behind the recent hike in ticket prices.

The government recently increased fare of public transport after the public transporters refused to open ticket booking for festival unless government revise the fare as per the increased prices of fuel.

Following a long discussion, the government increased the transport fare by 10 percent, which led the transport operators to open ticket  booking on September 25.

Before the government announced the bus fare hike, booking for bus tickets had remained uncertain. The agitated transport operators associated with the Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs Association (FNNTEA) had been demanding the government to unfreeze their bank accounts and adjust the fares in view of rising fuel prices. Department of Transport Management Spokesperson Gokarna Prasad Upadhyaya said nearly 30,000 tickets have been sold since the booking opened.

“Ticket booking for the festival is going smoothly. We have set up help desks to facilitate public and monitor to malpractice going while distributing tickets. Regular monitoring of ticket counters have been happening,” said Upadhyaya.