Govt in no mood to slash public transport fare

KATHMANDU, Sept 3:


The government has not reduced public transport fare even though price of diesel has come down by more than 28 percent over the past year.


Price of diesel fell by another Rs 2 per liter on Tuesday.


Compared to last September, price of diesel has come down by Rs 23 per liter. Diesel, which was retailed at Rs 105 per liter in September last year, is now available at Rs 82 per liter. During the period, the government reduced public transportation fare by a nominal 2.03 percent.


Though Scientific Fare Determination Mechanism clearly states that transportation fare has to be revised if price of diesel goes up or falls by a minimum of Rs 5 per liter. Based on the provision, the government should have reduced transportation fare by at least four times during the period.


Public transportation fare is calculated after studying different indicators. Fuel holds 35 percent weightage in the calculation.

Officials of the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) -- the government body responsible for revising public transportation fare - say there is no possibility of public transportation fare going down anytime soon as price of diesel has not changed by Rs 5 per liter since the last adjustment.


Chandra Man Shrestha, newly appointed director general of DoTM, told Republica that Scientific Fare Determination Mechanism allows them to adjust public transportation fare only if there is change in diesel price by at least Rs 5 per liter," Republica, adding, "I have been informed price of diesel has not come down by that margin since the last adjustment."


Fact is, price of diesel has come down by Rs 11 per liter since February 9 when the government reduced public transportation fare. At that time, diesel was being retailed at Rs 93 per liter.


Price of petroleum products in the domestic market has been falling since March last year due to drop in price of petroleum products in the international market. Fuel price started falling in the domestic market after Nepal Oil Corporation (NOC) adopted automatic price fixation mechanism in September last year. Price of petrol has come down by Rs 30 per since then.

Source: republica