PESHAWAR, June 30: Following the recent rise in prices of petroleum products, the Sarhad Transport Owners Association announced another increase of 11 per cent in public transport fares.

Sarhad Transport Legal Action Committee chairman Mr Ihsanullah told Dawn here on Monday that the increase had been announced in accordance with a formula decided at a meeting with officials of the Provincial Transport Authority on March 18.

As per the formula, he said, the fare for per kilometre and per passenger had been increased from 79-paisa to Re1 for air-conditioned vehicles, and the fare would be 86-paisa in non-air conditioned vehicles.

The government, he said, often increased the price of fuel without giving attention to transporters’ problems.

“I had submitted an application to the office of the Provincial Transport Authority for revision of the fare list, but he did not respond to the request,” he said, adding transporters always visited offices for the fare list but the old practice would not be repeated now and the fare would be increased the day the diesel prices were increased.

He said one paisa would automatically be increased in fare by transporters if the price of diesel was increased by up to Rs2 per litre.

The decision, he said, would apply to public transport vehicles plying on roads from Peshawar to various districts of the country and the formula would not apply on local transport plying within the limits of the Peshawar district.He said the decision about increasing the bus stand taxes by the City District Government of Peshawar had been challenged in the Peshawar High Court and no transporter would pay the additional charges.

Meanwhile, a meeting of transporters was held at the Haji Camp general bus stand under Jehangir Afridi, which decided that no transporter would pay additional taxes to bus stand contractors.

Local transporters’ president Jehangir Afridi told Dawn that the fare for local transport had not been increased, saying a meeting of office-bearers would be convened soon to increase the fare.

At present, he said, Rs6 was charged from per passenger per stop, which would be increased to Rs8. Efforts were made to get the version of the Provincial Transport Authority secretary, but he could not be contacted.

An official of the transport department said the decision to increase the fare could not be taken on such a short notice, adding they would convene a meeting of officials concerned for the purpose.