Karachi bus owners are observing a one-day strike in protest against the e-challan system, heavy fines, and a new insurance policy, ARY News reported on Thursday.
Due to the strike, public transport has largely disappeared from the city’s roads, causing significant inconvenience to commuters. According to reports, the strike by bus owners has resulted in a partial shutdown of public transport services across Karachi.
The absence of buses left passengers facing severe difficulties in reaching their destinations, with many stranded or forced to seek alternative, often costly, means of travel.
The partial strike by private transport owners continues in the city as tensions remain over the implementation of the new regulatory measures.
Read more: Karachi bus owners announce indefinite strike
On Wednesday, Farooq Ahmed, President of the Karachi Bus Owners Association, urged all bus owners to keep their vehicles off the roads in support of the protest.
He had warned that the strike would continue until the authorities address the association’s concerns and accept its demands.
The planned suspension of services is expected to affect thousands of daily commuters who rely on public transport for travel across the city.
Earlier in May, the traffic police in Karachi introduced new measures to penalize motorists driving on the wrong side of the road.
According to reports, DIG Traffic Pir Muhammad Shah said that the growing trend of wrong-way driving in Karachi has become a serious concern, adding that officers had now been equipped with modern gadgets to issue challans more effectively across Karachi.