No relief for commuters: Intra-city public transport revised fare list issued
No relief for commuters: Intra-city public transport revised fare list issued
* Stop-to-stop fare reduced by Rs 2 * Commuters term revision a gimmickBy Atif KhanISLAMABAD: The district administration on Wednesday issued a revised fare list for intra-city transport, lowering the stop-to-stop fare from Rs 12 to Rs 10.The new fare list would be effective from Thursday (today) after 12.00noon.However, the residents termed the revision a gimmick of digits. They said though the authorities reduced the diesel price by Rs 3 per litre on November 16, there was no change in fares.According to the revised fare list, the minimum stop-to-stop fare, which was earlier Rs 12, has been fixed at Rs 10, while the maximum fare, which was earlier Rs 22, has been reduced to Rs 20. The fare of some stops has been reduced by Rs 1 only. However, there is no change in fares of those stops for which the transporters were charging Rs 18.“According to the new list, the stop-to-stop fare will be Rs 10, which the transporters are already charging but the authorities are unaware of this fact,” Murtaza Minhaj, a resident told Daily Times.“The revision of fares is only a gimmick and the revised list is almost a ditto-copy of previous one,” said Minhaj.“The government created a hype that it is going to reduce the diesel prices to benefit the people, but the relief did not trickle down to public and we are paying the same fares as one month earlier,” said another resident Agha Wilayat Ali. He said the government had facilitated the elite only by reducing the petrol price by Rs 10 per litre. He said most of the commuters used vans to travel from stop-to-stop or to medium distances and there was no change in fares of such destinations.The transporters confirmed to Daily Times that the fares revision had provided no relief to commuters, as they would continue to pay the same fares. They said federal capital transporters had voluntarily reduced the fares sometime back and they were already charging Rs 10 for stop-to-stop against the official fare Rs 12.Islamabad Transport Welfare Association President Malik Nawab Khan told Daily Times that transporters had voluntarily slashed the fares to benefit the public. He was of the view that due to increase in prices of spare-parts and lubricants, they could not lower the fares to the previous position.He said it was ironic that the prices of petroleum products had been reduced to half in the international market, but the oil companies were selling lubricants at the same or increased rates.“Previously, the oil change of van cost Rs 1,100, but now it cost Rs 2180,” he said, adding, lubricants were an essential for the transport vehicles. He criticised the government for not checking the spare-parts’ prices, which had witnessed manifold increase during the last two months.Kamil Hussain, a spare-parts dealer, confirmed the increase in spare-parts prices and termed it due to devaluation of Pakistan rupee against the dollar.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\11\27\story_27-11-2008_pg11_1
* Stop-to-stop fare reduced by Rs 2 * Commuters term revision a gimmickBy Atif KhanISLAMABAD: The district administration on Wednesday issued a revised fare list for intra-city transport, lowering the stop-to-stop fare from Rs 12 to Rs 10.The new fare list would be effective from Thursday (today) after 12.00noon.However, the residents termed the revision a gimmick of digits. They said though the authorities reduced the diesel price by Rs 3 per litre on November 16, there was no change in fares.According to the revised fare list, the minimum stop-to-stop fare, which was earlier Rs 12, has been fixed at Rs 10, while the maximum fare, which was earlier Rs 22, has been reduced to Rs 20. The fare of some stops has been reduced by Rs 1 only. However, there is no change in fares of those stops for which the transporters were charging Rs 18.“According to the new list, the stop-to-stop fare will be Rs 10, which the transporters are already charging but the authorities are unaware of this fact,” Murtaza Minhaj, a resident told Daily Times.“The revision of fares is only a gimmick and the revised list is almost a ditto-copy of previous one,” said Minhaj.“The government created a hype that it is going to reduce the diesel prices to benefit the people, but the relief did not trickle down to public and we are paying the same fares as one month earlier,” said another resident Agha Wilayat Ali. He said the government had facilitated the elite only by reducing the petrol price by Rs 10 per litre. He said most of the commuters used vans to travel from stop-to-stop or to medium distances and there was no change in fares of such destinations.The transporters confirmed to Daily Times that the fares revision had provided no relief to commuters, as they would continue to pay the same fares. They said federal capital transporters had voluntarily reduced the fares sometime back and they were already charging Rs 10 for stop-to-stop against the official fare Rs 12.Islamabad Transport Welfare Association President Malik Nawab Khan told Daily Times that transporters had voluntarily slashed the fares to benefit the public. He was of the view that due to increase in prices of spare-parts and lubricants, they could not lower the fares to the previous position.He said it was ironic that the prices of petroleum products had been reduced to half in the international market, but the oil companies were selling lubricants at the same or increased rates.“Previously, the oil change of van cost Rs 1,100, but now it cost Rs 2180,” he said, adding, lubricants were an essential for the transport vehicles. He criticised the government for not checking the spare-parts’ prices, which had witnessed manifold increase during the last two months.Kamil Hussain, a spare-parts dealer, confirmed the increase in spare-parts prices and termed it due to devaluation of Pakistan rupee against the dollar.
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008\11\27\story_27-11-2008_pg11_1
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