The business that is Diplomatic Shuttle Service

ISLAMABAD In a bid to mint money at the cost of option-less visitors, the owner of the Diplomatic Shuttle Service (DSS) has turned this convenient means of traveling into a business by enhancing its fare by 150 per cent.
In this regard, another category, 'VIP waiting lounge, has been introduced by the administration of DSS besides the common waiting room. It has been made mandatory for the US Embassy visitors to purchase a ticket worth Rs 500 for VIP waiting lounge instead of the Rs 200 ticket for the common waiting room.
According to details, the CDA had awarded DSS contract under Build Operate Transfer (BOT) programme to Muhammad Hussain some four months ago who has been running this shuttle service for the past 7 years.
For the purpose, city managers have provided him a piece of land on 3rd Avenue (Quaid-i-Azam University Road) on a seven-year contract, where Muhammad Hussain built his own building.
A visitor told TheNation that Rs 500 ticket is not mandatory for all visitors however for the US Embassy visitors there was no other option but to purchase the ticket for the VIP Lounge. Rs 500 ticket is mandatory for US Embassy goers, while the staffers at the ticketing booth upon coming to know that some person is a first time visitor of a particular embassy in the Diplomatic Enclave, or seems well-to-do from his/her gestures is also forced to buy a ticket for the VIP Lounge which is worth Rs 500 instead of Rs 200, informed an employee of DSS. Owner of DSS Muhammad Hussain while talking to TheNation negated this impression and said that the option of purchasing Rs 200 or Rs 500 ticket depends on the visitor as the workers here did not pressurise any costumer.
He said that for those who bought a Rs 500 ticket, we have constructed a VIP Lounge, where the facilities of free Internet, local calls, snakes and drinks were available for the visitors. However, a personal visit by this scribe revealed that only one landline telephone connection and one computer system was provided for the whole VIP Lounge to compensate the extra Rs 300 of visitors, while on the free meal counter only plain water and some cold drinks were present in a fridge with a self-service tag on one corner.
It is worth mentioning here that DSS was initially started in April 2002 from the Convention Centre with a view to establish safe and speedy shuttle service for diplomatic dignitaries as well as domestic visa seekers.
DSS later developed itself and not only facilitated transportation of visa seekers but also reduced the security hazards to the diplomatic premises by acting as the first-line of security for visitors and by reducing the number of private vehicles inside the Diplomatic Enclave.
Nowadays, visa seekers can only visit the Enclave by the Diplomatic Shuttle Transport Service (DSTS) and that too after getting prior appointment from the concerned embassy.
Sources in CDA disclosed that the terms of contract of Muhammad Hussain expired seven months ago and the concerned officials in CDA, after receiving a hefty amount as kickback from the contractor, reinstated his contract by violating the defined rules and regulations of the CDA in this regard.
However, Muhammad Hussain, the contractor, and the concerned CDA official negated this impression.