Govt prepares to slash public transport fare

KATHMANDU: With price of fuel declining further, the government is preparing to cut down transport fare in line with fuel price. This time, there will also be reduction in taxi charges that have remained unchanged for nearly two years.

The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) had slashed the public transport fare by one per cent on December 23 last year based on reduction in fuel price. However, cab charges had not been reviewed at that time. DoTM officials said that they were preparing a proposal that will be sent to the Ministry of Physical Infrastructure and Transport for approval.

“We have already started our preparations to cut down the fare,” said Mohan Bhattarai, mechanical engineer at DoTM. He added that charges of all public vehicles, including bus, taxi and cargo carriers, would be reviewed based on changes in price of fuel, the major component in fare fixing provision.

Taxi operators are charging Rs 37 per km apart from flag down cost of Rs 14 since March 2013 when petrol price was at Rs 123 per litre. Various student unions for long have also been demanding that the government fix transport fare in line with fuel prices.

Scientific fare fixing provision adopted by the government six years ago calculates the fare on the basis of 35 per cent contribution of fuel factor and 65 per cent contribution of non-fuel factors. After Monday’s slash in fuel price, petrol costs Rs 109.5 per litre and diesel price has come down to Rs 86.5 per litre.

When the transport fare was cut in December last year, diesel used to cost Rs 92 per litre and petrol Rs 116 per litre. It means there has been decline in petrol and diesel price by seven rupees per litre and Rs 5.5 per litre, respectively. DoTM officials said that they can hike or slash transport fare whenever there is fuel price fluctuation by at least five rupees per litre.