Rabat- As the number of travellers increases during the Eid al-Fitr holiday, bus ticket prices have nearly doubled, despite the government’s efforts to counter price gouging in Morocco.
Every Eid, the cost of bus tickets, and other transportation options, skyrocket forcing customers across the kingdom to choose between paying the higher price or not visiting their families.
According to a report by Moroccan news outlet Al Massae, ticket prices this Eid have increased by 30 to 50 percent. Typically, the longer the distance, the more prices escalate.
Passengers heading for southern provinces have to pay MAD 200 for a bus ticket that normally costs MAD 100.
Another issue is that of ticket fraud; some individuals in bus stations take advantage of travelers searching for cheap tickets during the Eid season and sell fake tickets to them at the usual traveling price.
Moroccan citizens have battled with price increases on fuel, commodities, and even fish.
On April 20, Moroccans launched a boycott against the high prices of three major companies in the country: Centrale Danone (dairy products), Sidi Ali (mineral and soda water), and Afriquia (gasoline), which is owned by Minister of Agriculture Aziz Akhannouch.
Late in May, citizens across the country complained about the price hikes of fish, saying that the increase in fish prices was not justifiable as Moroccans have more than 1,000 miles of coastline.
People took to social media to express their anger with hashtags, #Letitrot and #Letitswim (in Arabic) calling for a fish boycott.
Although calls for the fish boycott have not echoed as far as the boycott of the three companies, Moroccan are still calling on the government to take strict measures against those who do not take into consideration, the purchasing power of consumers.
Throughout the ongoing boycott, Head of Government Saad Eddine El Othmani has lead considerable initiatives to end corruption and manipulation of consumer products, such as the new consumer complaint hotline (57 57), dedicated to countering market monopolization and corrupt business.
