LAHORE: The Punjab Mass Transit Authority increased on Friday the fare of Lahore and Rawalpindi metro buses from Rs20 to Rs30.

The decision is expected to help the government reduce Rs800m in the total annual subsidy of about Rs4bn it has been providing to facilitate the passengers. However, the fare for Multan metro bus would remain the same.

“We have enforced the government’s decision to increase fares from Rs20 to Rs30 for Lahore and Rawalpindi-Islamabad metro bus systems from Friday. This way, the government will save Rs800m annually, as now it will pay Rs3.2bn to both Lahore and Rawalpindi metro systems,” a senior PMTA official told Dawn on Friday.

In May, the government in a meeting presided over by Prime Minister Imran Khan, had proposed an increase in metro bus fare to reduce burden on the subsidy. The chief minister was entrusted with the task of taking the final decision on the issue.

Since 2013, the government has paid Rs12bn subsidy on Lahore metro bus alone till the end of the last fiscal year in June.

On the other hand, the public seems to have rejected the government’s decision to increase the fare. “Such actions show that the government really wants to crush the poor at a time when businesses in the country have almost come to a halt. Due to massive inflation, price hike, uncertainty and other issues, the routine life of a common man has been disturbed,” Mustafa, a metro bus user, deplored.

He demanded the government withdraw its decision, as the metro bus was the cheapest and most reasonable mode of transport left for the poor.

Published in Dawn, August 24th, 2019