AG Report: Weak enforcement, monitoring in RM1 bus fare programme resulted in passengers overcharged

KUCHING (Feb 23): Weaknesses in enforcement and monitoring in the state’s RM1 bus fare programme by the Ministry of Transport Sarawak (MOTS) led to passengers being charged more than the stipulated flat fare, according to the 2024 Auditor-General’s Report released on Monday.

The report revealed that under Clause B of the RM1 Fare Bus Programme agreement, the stage bus (BBH) operator is required to charge passengers a flat RM1 per trip regardless of distance or duration.

Audit checks on Sept 5 and 6, 2023 found that passengers on two buses plying Route K25 (Kuching-Sri Aman) were charged RM13 per trip instead of RM1.

One bus departed from Boulevard Transit Point in Kuching to the Sri Aman Bus Terminal on Sept 5 with two passengers, while the other bus left Sri Aman for Kuching on Sept 6 with 32 passengers.

In total, the 34 passengers were overcharged RM12 each, amounting to RM408.

Further checks also uncovered discrepancies in passenger numbers and subsidy claims.

The stage bus operator had reported 24 passengers for the Sept 5 trip, but auditors verified that only two passengers were on board.

This resulted in an overclaimed subsidy of RM524.50.

Audit scrutiny also found inconsistencies in ticket serial numbers used for subsidy claims, pointing to weaknesses in documentation and monitoring.

The report attributed the issue to the operator’s failure to display the RM1 fare notice on buses under the programme.

More significantly, it noted that MOTS did not have a passenger counting system to verify the actual number of daily riders, allowing inaccurate claims to go undetected.

In its response dated Aug 16, 2024, MOTS acknowledged shortcomings in enforcement of the BBH’s daily operations and insufficient monitoring by the operator’s management, which led to passengers being overcharged.

The ministry also admitted that the absence of a digital ticketing system contributed to discrepancies in ticket serial numbers.

MOTS said it had issued a letter on June 18, 2024 to the operator, who admitted to collecting RM13 per passenger for the K25 route to offset high fuel costs.

The ministry stated it would adjust and recover the overclaimed subsidy through deductions from subsidy claims between August 2023 and December 2025, subject to approval by its committee.

The matter was conveyed to the operator in a letter dated Aug 13, 2024.

MOTS further said that Route K25 had been removed from the RM1 Fare Bus Programme effective Jan 1, 2024, as the revised model now only covers urban routes within a 40km radius.

It also mentioned that the stage bus operator had stated that the RM1 fare stickers on the two buses had worn out and that there was no stock available for replacement.