Concerned officials have rightly pointed out that the latest revision in diesel price has made little impact on operational costs, hence the demand for fare revision is baseless. Additionally, the last time the government had revised transportation fares, it had shown extreme magnanimity and hiked fares more than what a technical panel had recommended. For example, for traveling up to three kilometers in public vehicles in Kathmandu, the panel had recommended charging Rs 7 but the government had set the rate at Rs 9. Public vehicles, interestingly, charge a rupee more. Hence, the call to revise fares again when diesel price has just been marginally raised defies all logic.
Every time the prices of petroleum products, including diesel and petrol, are revised, transport entrepreneurs make a big hue and cry. This is nothing new. This happens primarily because there is no scientific policy to adjust fares as and when petroleum prices are revised. We can avoid wasting a lot of time each time prices of diesel and petrol are hiked if, say, we have a government body that concurrently analyzes the impact that the revised prices will have on fares and recommends making adjustments accordingly. This shouldn’t be a huge task. The only problem, as we see it, would come from transport entrepreneurs who, as we mentioned earlier, forever shy away from bringing down fares. However, if the problem is to be resolved once and for all, this is possibly how the issue should be handled.
In this fight between the entrepreneurs and the government, it’s mostly the common people who end up being the victims: They either end of paying exorbitant fares or suffer as a result of strikes called by transport entrepreneurs. It’s high time to seek a permanent solution to this problem and save the people from repeated inconveniences.
Related story
Reluctance to implement adjusted transport fares
-1781882999.webp)
