Need to ensure customer rights when bus route number 5 is temporarily suspended

Nguyen Hai• October 1, 2019 18:37

(Baonghean.vn) - After the Vinh - Yen Thanh bus route of Dong Bac was temporarily suspended, the travel of many passengers who bought monthly tickets for this route was greatly affected.

Đình chỉ hoạt động tạm thời xe buýt Đông Bắc tuyến Vinh - Yên Thành

Temporarily suspending the operation of Northeast bus route Vinh - Yen Thanh

(Baonghean.vn) - Nghe An Department of Transport has just issued an official dispatch on temporarily suspending bus route No. 05 of Dong Bac company running from Vinh city to Yen Thanh district.

Pursuant to Notice No. 3052/SGTVT dated September 26 of the Nghe An Department of Transport on the temporary suspension of bus route No. 5 running Vinh - National Highway 1 - National Highway 7B - Yen Thanh town and vice versa of Dong Bac Company Limited, from September 29 to October 5, this bus route has stopped serving passengers.

This is the only bus route running from Vinh to Yen Thanh along National Highway 1 and National Highway 7B, so the temporary suspension has greatly affected the travel of people on this route. However, after nearly 3 days of temporary suspension, Dong Bac Company Limited, the owner of this bus route, has not yet shared with customers because of the incident that interrupted service time.

Một tuyến xe bus khác của Công ty Đông Bắc đang cạnh tranh, đón khách với đơn vị khác. Ảnh: VT

A bus of Dong Bac Company picks up passengers. Photo: VT

Ms. ML, a customer living in Vinh, working in Yen Thanh district, said: Due to the nature of her work, she has had to take bus route No. 5 of Dong Bac Company since June 2019. For convenience, she bought a monthly ticket, 600,000 VND per month. On September 28, when she went to work, her colleague informed her that the bus would be suspended from September 29. She was also happy because this was a corrective move by the state management agency in the face of the current situation of the quality of the buses being too old and dilapidated. However, when the bus was suspended, she had to go back and forth every day, making it difficult to travel.

In the morning, I have to take another bus from Vinh via provincial road 534 (Nghi Loc) through Yen Thanh town. In the afternoon, if I work late, I have to ask someone to take me to the Bung bridge intersection to catch a bus home. I bought a monthly ticket but it costs me an extra 70,000 VND/day and adds to the hassle; we passengers need to have our rights guaranteed.

Ms. ML, a customer working in Yen Thanh district

Another customer added: Every day, there are about 30 customers who are tax officials, bank employees, teachers, electricity workers... going to work at 7 o'clock. I myself have been taking the bus for nearly 6 years, buying a full ticket every month for 600,000 VND/month. Now the bus has been temporarily suspended for 1 week and 3 days have passed and I have had to switch to private cars, but I have not seen Dong Bac Company notify or sympathize with customers even though the Company has the customers' phone numbers. Therefore, the province's inspection and temporary suspension of this bus route is appropriate, so that the business can correct the violations and serve customers better.

Mr. Nguyen Viet Hung - Head of Transport Management Department, Nghe An Department of Transport said,Recently, the Department of Transport has strengthened the rectification, thereby imposing penalties by suspending many vehicles, revoking driver badges, etc. However, this is the first case of a bus route in the province being temporarily suspended. The temporary suspension of bus route No. 5 is the last and necessary solution for Dong Bac Company because of many violations.

Also according to the representative of the Department of Transport, when a bus route is temporarily suspended or suspended, the business must inform and negotiate with customers who have booked long-term tickets to support and refund the cost corresponding to the time of suspension of service to customers. Dong Bac Company is a private enterprise operating bus transport services, the ticket price is agreed upon by the Company and the customer, when there is a dispute about the ticket price, it is resolved according to civil relations.

It is known that currently, Dong Bac Company has repaired and upgraded some of the 16 buses on route 5 according to the request of the Department of Transport; and added some new buses.