Ctrip offers refund after bus snafu

The travel website ctrip.com has offered a partial refund to each of the 30 local tourists who didn't return on time from a trip to Mogan Mountain in Zhejiang Province because their bus got impounded on the way back, the company said Monday.

Police discovered the bus did not have the necessary license to carry passengers during a random inspection on the Shanghai-Zhejiang Highway in Shanghai around 4:20 pm Sunday, according to a tourist on the trip surnamed Wang.

Police impounded the bus for operating without a license, according to the bus's owner, Shanghai Donghu Bus Service Co.

Ctrip had to send another bus to pick up the 30 stranded tourists, Wang said. However, the bus didn't arrive until two hours later.

Wang said it was scary to think back on the hour-long drive through the mountains in the unlicensed bus. "If we had gotten into an accident, we wouldn't have been able to make an insurance claim," she told the Global Times Monday.

The company offered the tourists a 280 yuan ($45.64) refund for the delay, Wang said.

The group booked the two-day-trip online at prices ranging from 480 yuan to 510 yuan, Wang said.

The buses left Shanghai at 8 am Saturday and arrived at Mogan Mountain around 1 pm, according to the itinerary on Ctrip's website. They left the mountain at 2 pm Sunday.

Shanghai Donghu said it sent out the unlicensed buses because it didn't have enough available vehicles in its fleet, according to a company employee surnamed Liu.

The company has 100 buses, including 20 that are currently under review for operation licenses, Liu said.

Buses must have an operation license to carry passengers, said Li Hui, a Shanghai traffic police officer. The license must be present on board the vehicle at all times.

A bus owner can be fined up to 200 yuan if police find the vehicle is operating without a proper license on board. The vehicle will also be impounded.

Authorities can confiscate the vehicle if its owner has not applied for a license, Li said. In those cases, the owner can be fined from 5,000 yuan to 40,000 yuan.

Shanghai Donghu has reclaimed its impounded bus, Liu said. The company was also fined 100 yuan.

Zhu Jialei has contributed to this story