At odds: Transporters balk at reducing fares for CNG-run vehicles

Demand proportionate decreases in CNG prices.

PESHAWAR: Transport associations have decided against reducing transport fares for vehicles which run on compressed natural gas (CNG).

Insiders told The Express Tribune on Saturday that transport associations, such as the Public Transport Owners Association (PTOA), have only agreed to reduce fares of vehicles which run on petrol and diesel. However, they have refused to reduce fares for CNG-run vehicles until the government announces a decrease in CNG prices.

Moreover, a large number of transporters will hold a protest next week to ensure their demands are met.

“Transporters are unwilling to compromise on this as nearly all public transport in the city runs on CNG,” said PTOA’s President Khan Zaman Afridi.

After Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced reduction in the price of petroleum products in November 2014, the Provincial Transport Authority (PTA) had reduced transport fares by 8% on all inter-divisional routes to provide relief to people.

A spokesman of PTA told The Express Tribune that a new price fare list has been issued in this regard.

“Public transporters have been given instructions to reduce fares,” he said. “They have also been pasted on vehicles and transport stands for passengers and commuters to view.”

He added the federal government has already announced substantial reductions in petroleum products by Rs6.25 per litre to facilitate transporters. “This is the second time that fuel prices have been reduced over the last two months,” the spokesman added.

According to the new price list, the transport fare from Peshawar to Swat has been reduced to Rs174 from Rs187. The fare for travelling from the city to Abbotabad has been decreased from Rs210 to Rs195. Moreover, passengers travelling from Peshawar to Mansehra will have to pay Rs219 rather than the previous fare of Rs237.

The PTA spokesman said field inspectors have been directed to ensure the new price list is implemented and violators are fined and punished.

However, passengers are likely to be inconvenienced as transport fares for CNG-run vehicle are expected to stay the same.

According to Azmat Khan, a general bus stand administrator, the new list will create controversy and create differences between the passengers and transporters.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 4^th, 2015.