March 20, 2008	Thursday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 11, 1429

KARACHI, March 19: Chairman of the National Transport Ittehad Salim Khan Bangash and other office-bearers of the organisation said on Wednesday that they were set to implement the new fares from Thursday (March 20).

In a statement, they said buses would charge Rs9, Rs10, Rs11 and Rs12 for a 5, 10, 15 and abover-15 kilometre journey, respectively, while minibuses would charge Rs10, Rs11 and Rs12 and Rs13 for 5, 10, 15 and above-15 kilometre journey, respectively. Coaches would charge Rs14 for a 15 kilometre journey and Rs15 for above-15-kilometre journey, they added.

They reiterated their stance that the Rs-3 increase in fares had become inevitable as they could no more afford losses in the business.

Meanwhile, President of the Karachi Transport Ittehad (KTI) Syed Irshad Hussain Bukhari and General-Secretary Syed Mehmood Afridi have stated that transporters will not raise fares without an approval by the government and issuance of an official notification in this regard.

They made it clear that KTI members (owners of the buses, minibuses and coaches operating in the city) have already been directed to charge the existing fare until the Sindh government’s transport department gave its approval to the proposed increase in fares.

In a statement issued here on Wednesday, they strongly contradicted reports attributed to KTI that it had decided to raise fares unilaterally and implement the new fares without government approval. They, however, demanded withdrawal of the hike in POL prices announced on March 1 and 15.—PPI