It’s not even been six months since the public transportation fare was hiked by the Government. Yet again, the Department of Transport Management (DoTM) is looking forward to hiking the public transportation fare in the valley.
The DoTM has cited that public transportation fare has not been revised on the basis of “non-fuel indicators” since a long time and that is the reason why they might raise such fares soon. The non-fuel components include vehicle cost, price of spare parts, labor cost, price of tire, and other lubricants.
Gokarna Prasad Upadhyay, DoTM Spokesperson said, “Public transportation fare has been revised only on the basis of change in fuel price over the past few years. However, the fare has not been revised on the basis of change in the price of components other than fuel though their prices have risen in recent years.”
According to Upadhyay, a preliminary study has shown that the price of non-fuel components has increased over the past few years. He said, “The increment in the price of non-fuel components will result in a hike in public transportation fare.”
The team will be conducting a study on the inflation of related non-fuel components and review the existing public transportation fare on the basis of the study.
Along with revision in the public transportation fare, the department is also preparing to review taxi fare.
The Government had raised the public transportation fare by 10 percent in the month of September last year after the pressure by the transport entrepreneurs amid rising fuel price.
The regular price hike (be it due to fuel or non-fuel components) on the public transportation fare affects directly on the daily commuters’ life. It might seem to be a raise by a few percentages, but having to pay the increased amount on daily basis sure is agonizing for commuters who have to travel in public vehicles.
Are you among the daily commuters in the valley? Do you have any thoughts to share? Feel absolutely free to mention them in the comments section below.
Yes, I am one of the daily commuters and since the DoTM recently hiked public transportation fee another hike in the fare would certainly annoy commuters like me. Another hike would create a confusion on public fare as public vehicles charge more than the actual fare saying they do not have change.