‘Mystery Rider’ to be deployed against abusive trike drivers
ABUSIVE tricycle drivers better watch out.
“Mystery riders” will soon be deployed by the city government to catch tricycle drivers who charge fees higher than the approved rates.
The Mystery Rider Program, to be handled by the Public Order and Safety Office (POSO), was ordered by Mayor Benjamin Lim last week after he faced embarrassment when two participants to the national seminar on disaster preparedness and climate change adaptation held in Dagupan were overcharged by separate tricycle drivers.
POSO chief Robert Erfe Mejia said the mayor was visibly mad over reports from Vice Mayor Geefre Alonsabe of Alimodian town in Iloilo and Wilfredo Bergado of Igbaras, Iloilo that they were asked by separate tricycle drivers to pay P60 each from the Victory Liner bus station to the Dagupan People’s Astrodome, which is a distance of less than two kilometers.
The current rate is P7 for the first four kilometers.
Erfe-Mejia admitted that the incident is rampant in the city victimizing particularly first-time visitors who are tricked into paying excessive fares by drivers who take the longer routes ostensibly to justify high fares.
The ‘Mystery Rider Program’ will involve members of ‘Bantay Dagupan’ and traffic enforcers who will ride take tricycles and entrap overcharging tricycle drivers.
HISTORY OF ABUSES
Erfe-Mejia told the Sangguniang Panlungsod (SP) last July 1 that there has been a string of complaints filed before the POSO on overcharging drivers.
Last month, six cases of overcharging and four cases of refusal to service passengers were reported to his office.
For the whole year of 2010, POSO recorded 286 cases of overcharging.
Erfe-Mejia also admitted that there are many more unreported cases as passengers usually find it cumbersome to pursue a case against the erring tricycle driver.
He cited the case of one “Jhoanna” from Alaminos City who sent a text message to the POSO to report that she was charged P30 by a tricycle driver for a trip from the Development Bank of the Philippines to University of Luzon, which is less than one kilometer.
“Jhoanna” said as much as she wants to pursue a case, she lives too far from Dagupan.
INCREASE
The issue of overcharging tricycle drivers came to the fore recently in view of the request of the Federation of Accredited Tricycle Organizations (FATODA) for an increase in tricycle fare to a P10 minimum for the first two kilometers and P2 pesos for each kilometer thereafter.
An ordinance approved by the Sangguniang Panlungsod for this purpose was vetoed by Lim who wants a P10 minimum fare for the first three kilometers, not two kilometers, in the interest of the riding public.
Meanwhile, Ronnie Quinto, FATODA chairman of the board, admitted during the same SP session that there are, indeed, tricycle drivers in their rank who overcharge passengers.
However, he stressed that there are more of them who follow the law — a statement, which drew, boos from the public who attended the session.
Erfe-Mejia acknowledged that this “rampant abuse of privileges” is rooted in meager fines and leniency on the part of POSO.
“Yang first offense, second offense, walang kuwenta ‘yan. Dapat sa first offense pa lang alisin na ang prangkisa,” he said, adding that the POSO has been giving violators extended periods to pay their fines.
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