KINSTON, Jamaica – Minister of Science, Energy, and Technology, Daryl Vaz, has revealed that approximately 89 taxi operators have so far been charged after being accused of overcharging passengers.

This aligns with the Transport Authority’s efforts to enhance measures addressing the overcharging of fares by public passenger vehicle (PPV) operators, following a 19 per cent increase in PPV fares in October.

READ: 63 PPV operators charged for excess fares

Speaking at Wednesday’s Post Cabinet Press Briefing, the Minister stated that these arrests are part of the Government’s plan to take back the roads “from the rogues.”

“There has been an increase and it is going to be sustained, both in terms of the overcharging – which obviously has been an issue – and of course the discipline on the roads. So, Operation Transport Streamline continues, which is a collaboration between the Transport Authority and the traffic police, and it’s all-island,” Vaz said.

“I think the last update I got was 89 persons that have been charged for overcharging. And of course, traffic tickets are on the increase, especially among the public passenger transport operators,” he went on to say.

In October, over 60 people were charged for overcharging passengers, with the Authority revealing that it has executed more than 90 operations since the fare increase took effect.

Transport Authority Managing Director, Ralston Smith had revealed at that time 165 complaints were submitted to the Transport Authority’s newly established database and 145 have been resolved while the remaining complaints are under investigation.