Touts making life difficult for Penang express bus operators

GEORGE TOWN: More than 15 express bus operators at the Sungai Nibong Express Bus Terminal here are crying foul over harassment by ulat tiket (ticket touts), who are demanding up to RM18 for each ticket sold.

They claimed that their businesses had dipped since the beginning of the month, after they refused to pay off the touts.

A spokesman for the group, Edward Lim, who owns Billion Stars Express, said no action had been taken by enforcement agencies against the touts despite reports lodged since April 1. The group also lodged a complaint with the Penang Island City Council.

He said the situation was not that bad under the previous Land Public Transport Commission, but worsened when the Land Public Transport Agency took over.

Lim said the problem was not new and that bus operators used to pay ticket touts between RM12 and RM18 for each express bus ticket sold.

When the bus operators first moved to the terminal 15 years ago, they paid the touts between RM2 and RM3 for each ticket sold.

However, due to rising costs, they negotiated with the touts to pay them only RM7 for each ticket sold since the beginning of this month, but the latter demanded RM12.

“We refused to give in, so they started making things difficult for us. These touts, who park themselves at all eight staircases leading to ticket counters on the top floor, prevented customers from going to our counters. They would take the customers to companies that paid them the amount they demanded.

“Things are getting so bad that we sold only fewer than 20 tickets daily from the nearly 2,000 tickets available from the more than 15 bus companies.

“Most of us are feeling the pinch. I don’t know how long more we can sustain our businesses. Some are dependent only on tickets sold online.

“We don’t know who are behind these touts,” he said here yesterday.

Lim said more than 15 bus operators covered about 50 per cent of the express bus trips out of Penang daily.

He urged the authorities to take action against the touts.

“Until then, we are considering operating outside the terminal and at Komtar. From tomorrow (today), we will not enter the terminal, but will instead park our buses along the roadside to pick up passengers.”

Attempts by the New Straits Times for comments from the authorities proved futile.