Public transport operators in the City of Kigali risk being fined for overloading and other transgressions, officials have said.

The City of Kigali sounded the warning on Tuesday during a media briefing on performance review of the new transport system in the city.

Jean-Claude Rurangwa, the public transport and traffic management expert at City of Kigali, said a three-month grace period given to the operators has elapsed and all firms must operate according to the contractual obligations.

"We gave them a whole three months to put things in order and now that the grace period is over; any party found to fall short of our service delivery standards will be fined,” Rurangwa said.

He said monthly evaluation system will be used, where particular marks will be deducted for every poor service delivery case reported.

"At the end of every month, any transport operator found to have lost 100 marks, will be fined Rwf1 million, and we hope this will deter them from laxity as far as dedication to service delivery is concerned,” he said.

Overloading, overcharging, failure to respect route schedules, and poor customer care skills are among the cases that attract the fines.

The worst cases of repeated transgression could lead to cancellation of contract.

Rurangwa clarified that this is an exclusive City of Kigali initiative and that the Traffic Police will continue enforcing usual traffic rules.

Twahirwa Dodo, the president of RFTC Transport Company, said they have no problem with the new policy because it it would make them strive for efficient service delivery.

"Our commitment to providing efficient service is unquestioned, the existence of this penalty gives us reason to go an extra mile,” he said.

Doreen Kanza, a regular commuter on the Remera-Kanombe route, said the development would help reduce cases of misconduct by employees of some transport companies.

"It’s so uncomfortable to travel in these buses, because they are over packed, we hope this will end with the enforcement of rules,” she said.