Transport Authority seizes over 200 PPVs for overcharging after June fare hike

More than 200 public passenger vehicles have been seized by the Transport Authority since a new fare structure took effect in June, after operators were found overcharging commuters and working outside the terms of their licences.

The government introduced a 16 per cent fare increase for PPV operators last month in two stages — eight per cent from June 2, 2026, and another eight per cent from July 1, 2026. The decision fuelled public worry that some taxi drivers would ignore the official rates and keep overcharging.

Transport Minister Daryl Vaz said every overcharging report would be taken seriously and operators prosecuted. Transport Authority operations manager Nicola Brown-Reid said that undertaking is being met. Since the July 1 tranche, complaints have been limited and centred mainly on St. Catherine, where six operators have so far been prosecuted for overcharging.

In June, when the first tranche took effect, reports were overwhelming in Half Way Tree and downtown within the Kingston Metropolitan Transport Region. Brown-Reid said investigators found hackney carriage operators running as route taxis, contrary to their road licences. The offence of overcharging does not apply to hackney carriages acting as private charters, but those found operating as road taxis were among more than 200 vehicles seized that month.

Route taxis travel fixed corridors and pick up and drop off passengers along the way, while hackney carriages charter passengers to a specific destination. Route taxis carry black-and-white chequered side strips; hackney carriages feature yellow-and-black strips.

The seizures followed undercover checks in which Transport Authority agents rode reported vehicles to confirm whether fares exceeded the prescribed rates. In some cases, students were charged $250 on routes also served by the Jamaica Urban Transit Company, which charges students $50.

Brown-Reid urged operators to comply with the law, noting many Jamaicans already struggle to manage daily costs. She cited a mother sending a child from Bull Bay with $1,000 for buses, a second trip to school, and food — only for an operator to take $250 one way. Fines can reach $100,000 in court, she warned, and repeated prosecutions can lead to suspension or revocation of a road licence. Passengers were asked to check the relevant fare table, carry exact change, discreetly note or photograph registration plates, and report overcharging — including anonymously through the Travel Pal app.

In separate developments, police have intensified their probe into a triple shooting in Temple Hall, St. Andrew, on Friday night that left one person dead and two injured. The deceased was identified as 29-year-old labourer Rolando Williams of Temple Hall. An injured man and a 53-year-old woman were taken to hospital. About 10 p.m., explosions were heard near a gaming outlet in Temple Hall Square. Officers found one man with an upper-body gunshot wound and two others wounded in the chest and face. All three were assisted to Kingston Public Hospital, where Williams was pronounced dead and the others admitted.

Opposition Senator Lambert Brown, speaking in the Senate on Friday during debate on a Pension Act amendment, called on Jamaican workers — especially young people — to increase savings in pension schemes. He warned that fixed-term contracts can weaken retirement benefits and that individual retirement arrangements matter as more of the workforce shifts away from collective bargaining. About 174,000 Jamaicans, roughly 12 per cent of the working population, are actively saving through pension plans. Opposition Senator Kisha Anderson, a finance expert, argued that while strong regulation is essential, fees must not become an unnecessary burden passed on to pensioners, and called for clearer fee structures that avoid double charging while encouraging more Jamaicans to save for retirement.