Cheaper petrol: 11 per cent reduction in transport fares announced

Commissioners, DCOs directed to implement revised fares

LAHORE:

The government on Tuesday announced up to 11.9 per cent reduction in transport fares. The announcement came after a meeting of transporters and government representatives.

Food Minister Bilal Yasin chaired the meeting that decided to reduce fares of vehicles using petrol by 11.90 per cent and those using diesel fuel by 6.1 per cent.

The government also constituted a four-member committee to formulate a revised tariff list. The committee will consist of two representatives of the Transport Department and two transport operators.

Transport Secretary Shaukat Khan, District Regional Transport Authority (DRTA) Secretary Chaudhry Muhammad Iqbal and representatives of several transport companies were present at the meeting.

Yasin directed all commissioners and district coordination officers (DCOs) to enforce the new rates. He said that he would visit the districts to ensure that the new fares were being charged.

Yasin said the prime minister had ordered reduction petroleum prices to benefit the common man. “The provincial government will not tolerate any negligence in the enforcement of the revised fares,” he said. Lahore Transport Company (LTC) also issued a notification of the revised intra-city public transport fares.

According to the notification, the minimum fare (first stage 0 to 4 kilometres) of non-AC intra-city diesel buses/mini buses will be Rs9. The rate for the sixth stage (30.1 km and onwards) will be Rs28.

For intra-city mini buses using petrol, the fare for first stage (0 to 4km) will be Rs11. The rate for up to sixth stage (30.1 km and above) will be Rs26. The overall reduction in fares on non-AC diesel buses is 6 per cent. On petrol-fueled mini buses, the reduction is 11 to 12 per cent.

An LTC spokesman said the company’s enforcement department would take action against vehicles overcharging the passengers. “People can register their complaints against transporters on the LTC helpline: 042-111-582-111 and 0331-4440-582,” he said.

Talking to The Express Tribune, Punjab Mass-Transit Authority (PMA) Operations General Manager Syed Uzair Shah said the reduction in petroleum prices would not affect the Lahore Metro Bus tariff. “It will only affect the tariff of Rawalpindi and Multan metro buses. It is because of the different terms of the agreement of the projects. The Lahore Metro Bus was the first project of its kind. At that time petroleum prices were very high. So it was agreed that if petroleum prices surpassed the 2013 level, the operator will claim upward revision,” he said.

Shah said in Rawalpindi and Multan, the PMA had included terms to ensure that operators’ tariffs could be revised downwards with reduction in petroleum prices. He said the reduction in petroleum prices would not affect the metro bus fare. The Punjab Goods Transporters’ Association (PGTA) had earlier announced reduction in goods transport fares. After a meeting of the association, PGTA president Chaudhry Zulfiqar said that goods transporters had reduced inland goods transport fare by 7 per cent.

Petroleum prices have declined by 45 per cent since January, 2014. The petrol price was Rs113.44 and diesel Rs117.43 per liter on January 1, 2014.

On Tuesday, commuters complained about overcharging by transporters. Zahid Ameer, a Township resident, said that when petroleum prices rose, transporters did not wait for the government notification to reduce fares. “Now they tell us that they will only reduce the fares after they receive the government notification,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 2^nd, 2016.