Public transport fares up 9 percent

KATHMANDU, MAR 06 -

The government on Tuesday has hiked public transport fare s by 9 percent, effective from Friday.

The Department of Transport Management (DoTM) also hiked cargo carrier fares by 3.74 percent for hill routes (Kathmandu-Pokhara-Narayanghat) and by 16 percent for Tarai routes.

After the revision, freight charge per tonne per km went up to Rs 5.40 on Tarai routes and Rs 10.10 per tonne per km on hill route. The latest fare hike is this year’s third. This year alone, public transport fare s have risen by 17 percent.

With the latest revision in fares, commuters have to pay Rs 15 for a short ride in Kathmandu. The new rate for long routes will be published on Wednesday. “We will be publishing a public notice hopefully by Wednesday by determining the exact fares the commuters have to pay after the revision,” said Sharad Adhikari, director at the department. He added the fare hike was based on fuel and non-fuel components that affect the cost of transport service.

Department officials said the drop in bank interest rates, constant government taxes and no hike in transport workers’ salary helped keep the hike below 10 percent. However, the department did not hike taxi fares, citing need for further study.

A technical committee at the DoTM had studied price hike in fuel and non-fuel components including inflation, prices of spare parts, lubricants, tires and bank interest rates, among others, before proposing the fare hike to the ministry.

The Federation of Truck Tanker and Transport Entrepreneurs, the Nepal Metre Taxi Entrepreneurs’ Association, and Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs Association had long been demanding that the government increase the fares by 15 percent.

The government has to review transport fares annually as per the scientific fare determination mechanism implemented in 2009. The fare revision has to be done based on factors such as consumer price index, spare parts’ prices, cost of lubricants, tires and fuel, staff salary and bank interest rates.

Source: The Kathmandu Post