Decision unlikely to benefit passengers
KATHMANDU, Feb 8: The government, on Sunday, announced nominal cut in public transportation fare which is unlikely to benefit commuters.
Ministry of Physical Planning and Transport (MoPPT), on recommendation of Department of Transport Management (DoTM), slashed transportation fare by 2.53 percent on Sunday. The new fare will come into effect from Monday.
Public transport fare goes up as NOC hikes diesel price
As per the new adjustment, minimum fare in local routes remains unchanged at Rs 13. Similarly, fare distance of up to 16 kilometers also remains unchanged. Fare for trips between 16 and 24 kilometers will come down by Re 1. Similarly, passengers will have pay Rs 5 less for every 100 kilometers.
The reduction came on the direction of the Office of Prime Minister and Council of Ministers (OPMCM). Last week, OPMCM had directed DoTM to reduce transport fare in line with plummeting fuel prices.
Similarly, the government has also reduced transportation fare for taxis operating at Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) by 1.65 percent and cargo vehicles operating in Tarai by 3.76. Similarly, it has reduced transport fare for Kathmandu-Pokhara-Narayanghat routes by 3.28 percent.
Government officials, however, claimed that the new adjustment is scientific. "Albeit nominal, we have adjusted the fare as per the Scientific Fare Determination Mechanism," Mukti KC, director of DoTM, told Republica. "The mechanism permits us to revise transportation fare only if price of fuel goes up or down by at least Rs 5 per liter."
"As price of petrol and diesel has gone down by Rs 5 and Rs 6 per liter, respectively, since the last adjustment, we adjusted the new fare accordingly," he added.
Officials say the reduction might look nominal as the adjustment has been made on the basis of 'fuel factor' only.
Fuel carries 35 percent weightage in the fare adjustment process. Other factors like salary/allowance of drivers/staff, price of spare parts, maintenance, battery, and depreciation, among other indicators, carry 65 percent weightage.
Many passengers do not benefit from transport fare reduction mainly because the reduction is very nominal and also because of weak monitoring and implementation by the government side. However, government officials reiterate that they "will adopt effective monitoring mechanism and transport entrepreneurs overcharging passengers will be dealt with accordingly. 
However, DoTM said that fare for above 16 kilometers up to 27 kilometers has been reduced by Rs 1.
The government on Thursday had directed the DoTM to reduce public transportation fares.
