KARACHI, Dec 1: Public transport fares would be reduced in the city from Sunday following four substantial cuts in the prices of petroleum, oil and lubricants over the past two months. The fares would be brought down to the level which had been prevailing before Aug 14.
The decision was taken at a meeting between the Sindh minister of transport minister and representatives of transporters.
A spokesman for the transport department said the government had withdrawn its notification of Aug 14 on an increase in public transport fares after a considerable reduction in POL prices by the petroleum companies advisory committee.
He said transporters representatives met the Minister of Transport, Dewan Mohammed Yusuf Farooqui, in his office on Saturday, and agreed to withdraw the increase in fares as effected from Aug 14.
The oil companies advisory committee fixed diesel price at Rs19.19 a litre on Oct 1, and then reduced it to Rs14.80 a litre on Dec 1, a total of 22.88 per cent cut in prices. Petrol price had been fixed at Rs32.46 a litre on Oct 1, which was further slashed to Rs28.74 a litre on Dec 1. The prices of petroleum products are revised every fortnight.
Irshad Bokhari, chief of the Karachi Transport Ittehad (KTI), one of the major group of transporters, said: “We have voluntarily withdrawn the increase in fares, effected through a notification issued by the Sindh government.”
He maintained that the KTI had urged the minister to fix POL prices for at least six months as changes in prices every fortnight were not acceptable.
The minister said the authority to revise POL prices rested with the federal government, so the provincial government could not do anything about this.
Mr Bokhari said if the advisory committee was not disbanded, a fare regulatory committee should be formed at the provincial level to revise the fares of public transport in accordance with the fortnightly changes in POL prices. The transporters should be represented on the committee.
The minister, reportedly, agreed with the views of transporters and assured them that the formation of fare regulatory committee would be considered.
However, sources in the transport department told Dawn that no such regulatory committee would be set up in the near future. They said the fare regulatory body would not be in a position to revise fares every fortnight because of the influence exerted by transporters. Transporters would force the committee to fix fares according to their own wishes.
Since four substantial cuts in POL prices had been announced in the past two months, there had been resentment among the people as the transporters had not lowered the fares, as especially whenever an increase in diesel and POL prices are announced, the transporters increase fares without any delay.
The stubbornness on the part of the transporters had resulted in arguments and even violent scuffle between commuters and conductors of buses and coaches.
Transporters were of the view that if they reduced fares and POL prices were again increased after a fortnight, it would be difficult to increase fares.
Earlier, the transporters had claimed that if diesel price was lowered to Rs15, they would reduce fares voluntarily. The transporters had reluctantly agreed to reduce fares in spite of four substantial cuts in POL prices, the sources said.