KINGSTON, Jamaica — The Transport Authority is once again warning public passenger vehicle (PPV) operators that they should refrain from overcharging commuters’ fares effective immediately.

The Authority says that since the beginning of 2022, it has received several complaints from the commuting public that unscrupulous persons have produced and are issuing notices of increased fares in the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region (KMTR).

In a release, the Authority categorically denied that any fare increase has been granted for public passenger vehicle operators since the start of the year and shared that for those operators who are insisting commuters pay more than the approved fares, the practice is “illegal and in violation of the rights of the commuters.”

The Transport Authority says it will be monitoring this situation closely and warned that operators found to be “unlawfully deceiving passengers as to the fare for a journey” will be prosecuted under regulation 129 (d) of the Road Traffic Regulations.”

In the meantime, the public is reminded that one of the dangers of using unlicensed public passenger vehicles and hackney carriages being operated as route taxis is that these operators often charge exorbitant/unapproved fares.

The Authority is therefore urging the commuting public to use licenced public transport vehicles which display red public passenger vehicle plates and the light blue Transport Authority sticker on the windshield with expiration dates of 2022 and onwards.

Commuters may report incidents of overcharging through the Authority’s toll-free line at 888-991- 5687 and WhatsApp images or videos to 876-551-8196, providing the licence plate numbers and the routes for the vehicles.