Transport Authority seizes over 200 PPVs after fare hike crackdown

The Transport Authority has confiscated more than 200 public passenger vehicles (PPVs) since a new fare regime took effect in June, after inspectors found drivers charging above the legal rates and working outside the conditions of their licences.

Last month the Government approved a 16 per cent rise in PPV fares, introduced in two stages. An initial eight per cent applied from June 2, 2026, with a further eight per cent from July 1, 2026. The change prompted widespread discussion, including worry among riders that some taxi operators would ignore the new schedule and continue to demand excess payment.

Transport Minister Daryl Vaz responded by pledging that every overcharging complaint would be pursued and that offending operators would face prosecution.

Nicola Brown-Reid, operations manager at the Transport Authority, told the Jamaica Observer that the ministry’s commitment is being enforced. “Since the second tranche, which is the updated eight per cent for July 1, there have been a few reports, but they were centred around the St Catherine area. We have mobilised the team, and some amount of operations were conducted, and we have prosecuted so far six operators for overcharging,” she disclosed.

She noted that June, when the first stage of the increase began, brought a surge of complaints. “The issue was within the Half-Way Tree and downtown areas of the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region [KMTR]. What we realised was that the overcharging was being done by hackney carriage operators who were operating contrary to the terms of their road licences. A number of seizures had taken place of those vehicles… The offence of overcharging doesn’t apply to the hackney carriage operators; however, they were running route taxis, so we were able to seize some of those vehicles — over 200 of them — in the month of June,” she said.

Route taxis follow a set corridor and collect and set down passengers along that path. Hackney carriages function more like chartered hires, taking riders to an agreed destination. Route taxis are marked with black and white chequered side strips; hackney carriages carry yellow and black chequered strips.

Brown-Reid said the vehicles were taken after covert checks in which Transport Authority agent provocators rode flagged units to verify whether passengers were charged more than the gazetted fare. In some cases, she said, schoolchildren were billed $250 on corridors also served by the Jamaica Urban Transit Company (JUTC), which levies $50 for students.

She urged operators to “do the right thing”, pointing out that many households already face tight budgets. “Can you imagine a mother sending out a child with $1,000 coming from Bull Bay, you take a bus from Bull Bay downtown, and you have to take another bus to go to school again, plus you have to eat out of that $1,000, and an operator going to take $250 from you and that’s one way? “What are we saying to the future generation as a sector? What are we saying to these children who depend on us for a service? It cannot always be about the money. It has to be more than that,” said Brown-Reid.

According to her, the authority has long sought compromise with operators on issues such as proper terminals and fare adjustments, and expects compliance with the law in return. “It’s a very lucrative market that Jamaica’s economy depends on, and we cannot continue to treat it as a hustle. If you applied for a red plate it means that you made the conscious decision to abide by the rules that govern such an operation, and so we, as the authority, have to stand up on it. We will not relent in exercising what is prescribed in law to treat with these matters,” she said.

“We’re saying to the operators that we will continue to take a zero-tolerance approach for this offence. We also want to implore them that the fines can go up to $100,000 in court, and if the Transport Authority continues to prosecute you for the same offence then we can look at revoking the road licence or suspending the road licence,” she warned.

She also asked riders to notify the authority whenever they are overcharged. “The information is on our social media platforms. You can go on Twitter, you can go on TikTok on the Transport Authority page, and you can go on Instagram or Facebook. Look at the fare table that concerns where you’re coming from and be guided by that, and walk with your exact change. In addition to that, report the overcharging. Don’t be afraid,” she urged.

“When you step from that vehicle, discreetly take a picture or a mental note of the registration plate and report it to the authority. When we get these reports we usually act on them. You can remain anonymous. You can also use our app, the Travelpal app, to make a report about overcharging or any other infractions that you would have witnessed while travelling in a PPV,” she added.

“We want the operations of PPV to be safe, reliable, and serve the purpose of the commuters to the fullest. The authority gives this undertaking that we will take the necessary actions when these reports are made,” she stressed.