‘Public transporters paying lip service to insurance’

Conrad Mwanawashe Business Reporter
MOST public transport operators have failed to insure the travelling public through Passenger Personal Accident Policy, a statutory requirement for passenger carrying vehicles, a move that puts the lives of passengers at risk in the event of accidents.

Government has been forced to intervene where some passengers have been killed in accidents involving public transport. In such cases Government has offered funeral assistance to the victims’ families as some transport operators do not have passenger insurance.

According to the law, all passenger carrying vehicles must have two types of cover – comprehensive cover for damage to the carrier in the event of an accident and, secondly, insurance for the passengers known as the Passenger Liability Cover which covers the travelling public.

The PPAP disc should be displayed the same way as the vehicle licence.

No passenger carrying vehicle should be allowed on the road if it does not have either of the two covers. To complement Government’s intention to ensure insurance cover for the travelling public, the Insurance Council of Zimbabwe last month launched the passenger liability cover.

Under the facility, after verifying membership, Nyaradzo will provide three classes of services in the event of the death of passengers; adults above 18 years — $1 500; children above 12 years — $1 000; children below 12 years — $500.

A snap survey by The Herald Business showed that most coach and bus operators including community omnibus operators have not complied with the requirement.

“We launched the facility in April ahead of the Easter holidays. Other funeral homes have since approached us and we are currently engaging them with a view of them coming on board. We went to Nyaradzo because of their branch network,” chairperson of the public relations committee of ICZ Grace Muradzikwa said.

“Since then many accidents of passenger carrying vehicles have happened. It seems very clear that these vehicles are being allowed on the roads without cover,” said Mrs Muradzikwa.

The insurance costs $15 per passenger per annum, translating to $1,25 per passenger per month. Passenger liability cover is bought according to the carrier you are operating.

Failure by transport operators to comply with the PPAP means that Government is forced to intervene in the event of accidents which result in death.

“As the ICZ we met and asked ourselves why Government has to step in and provide assistance for the dead when the passenger liability cover is available. It should not be necessary for the Government to have to step in when there are national bus disasters because there is a facility in place to deal with such,” said Mrs Muradzikwa.

Under such circumstances Government will be subsidising unscrupulous bus operators who fail to comply with statutory requirements.

“What we realised is that as the ICZ when an accident occurs our responsiveness was very slow. We then went into an arrangement with Nyaradzo and agreed on the various covers,” she said.

She said more public awareness programmes are necessary to make the public aware of the PPAP.

“It’s high time passengers made it their business to find out if a vehicle is insured before they get on board. It’s about their lives. If all passenger transport operators comply with the requirements with regards the passenger liability cover no one would be given a pauper’s burial,” said Mrs Muradzikwa.

However, the Coach and Bus Operators Association said its members are fully compliant with regards the statutory requirements.

“We are certain that our members are fully compliant in this regard as Personal Passenger Accident Policies are mandatory in this country. Anyhow, in Zimbabwe you can not apply and be granted a route authority without providing a valid PPAP and in all cases the route authorities are made to run and expire at the same time as the PPAP,” said Mr Alex Kautsiro, the chief executive officer of the Coach and Bus Operators Association.

“However, it has to be understood that not every bus and coach operator is a member of CBOA and as such we cannot respond on their behalf,” he said.

On why most coach and bus operators and commuter operators are not displaying the PPAP disc as required, Mr Kautsiro said the association’s members have displayed the discs.

“However, if other operators do not have these then this would be very unfortunate as it highlights a huge deficiency which would need to be strictly enforced by law enforcement agents.”

Mr Kautsiro said the CBOA is a voluntary association and not supported by statute which makes it difficult for it to enforce compliance.

“If this support was effected, yes we would have capacity to self-regulate and monitor strict compliance,” he said.

The ICZ and CBOA have engaged over insurance issues and come up with agreements particularly on the passenger insurance cover.

“Yes, we have engaged the Insurance Council of Zimbabwe on all insurance issues, but primarily for the PPAP and, yes, we have come up with agreements which we are sure will enhance the processing of claims in order to reduce turnaround timeframes for passengers to get funds for any assistance,” said Mr Kautsiro.