BAJAUR: Transporters on Wednesday increased fares on inter-district and intra district routes in Bajaur by up to 30 per cent following the recent massive increase in the prices of petroleum products.

Local residents said that significant increase in the fares on almost all local and non-local routes was announced by transporters on their own after the district administration allegedly refused to approve such large hike immediately.

“The transporters/drivers in our area have significantly increased fares on almost all routes, charging Rs70 to 100 more than the current official rates,” said Anwar Nigar, a resident of remote Batai area of Khar tehsil.

He alleged that the increase in fares was decided by the transporters and drivers after the district administration had refused their request for an immediate hike following the unprecedented rise in petroleum products prices in the country.

Mr Nigar urged the district administration to take notice of the situation and regulate fares according to rules.

Meanwhile, several transporters and drivers admitted on Wednesday that they unilaterally hiked fares on both inter-district and intra-districts route by over 20pc.

“We had requested the district administration to fix new official fares on all local routes following the massive increase in fuel prices, but they did not respond, forcing us to raise the fares ourselves,” Akbar Khan, Aslam Khan, Irfan and other drivers and representatives of transporters said.

Meanwhile, the deputy commissioner Shahid Ali Khan, when contacted, said that they had asked secretary regional transport to fix new rates at the earliest, saying the new rates would be implemented accordingly.

Published in Dawn, March 12th, 2026