Motorists plying routes within Machakos County have been warned against exploiting travelers by hiking fare during the festive season.
Athi River Township MCA Michael Mutua Sunday said there was no reason for the operators to increase travel charges.
“It beats logic for some of the matatu operators plying various routes within Machakos County to hike their transportation charges,” said Mutua.
Mutua revealed that some of the affected routes included Athi River – Machakos, Athi River – Kitui, Athi River – Makueni and Athi River Kangundo on which according to him, majority of the operators had doubled the fees above normal charges.
He said it was inhuman for such charges to be imposed on commuters thereby fleecing them of their hard earned money simple because of the Christmas festivities.
Mutua addressed a meeting of matatu operators at the town where he urged members to be considerate enough while handling passengers.
He said it was high time those in the transport industry in the region exercised self discipline and ensured sanity for members of the public to have trust in them.
Mutua urged the National Transport Regulatory Authority (NTSA) to vigorously deal with the culprits, arguing that majority do not abide by the authority’s rules and regulations.