But concerned experts have tagged their demand as unfair and urged the government not to fulfill it, saying that the hike in diesel price has not made any significant impact on their operational cost.
The government raised diesel price by five percent on Monday. And the pressure it exerted on vehicles operational costs stand less than two percent, said an expert. Consumers´ forums too have referred entrepreneurs´ demand as ´unjustifiable´.
Dinesh Bhandari, president of Nepal Transport Entrepreneurs National Federation (NTENF), told myrepublica.com that they had pushed for the fare hike because cost of fuel as well as other cost components of transportation operations has soared sharply in recent period.
Consumer forums, however, argued that transporters were just taking the decision to hike fuel prices as an opportunity to lobby for raising the fares.“
"We warn the government not to listen to them," said Ram Chandra Simkhada, general secretary of Consumers Rights Protection Forum. He flayed the NTENF for pushing for the fresh fare hike, even as it got the government adjust the fares as much as they demanded less than eight months ago.
The government had adjusted fares on April 14 last year, even as the prices of petroleum products had dipped in the domestic market. The government had increased transportation fare more than the rate recommended by a technical panel formed to recommend rates. Worse still, transporters are collecting fares even higher than what the government fixed. For example, transporters are collecting tempo and bus fare at Rs 10 for up to three kilometers -- as minimum charge, whereas the government had fixed the fare at Rs 9 for that distance. The panel had actually recommended the Rs 7 for the distance.
"Even if we calculate the fares by giving 35 percent weightage to fuel in overall operation cost, the present price hike has not even increased the fare by Rs 0.03 per km per person," said Simkhada. He even urged the government to take into account its higher fare adjustment decision, while considering on the latest demand of entrepreneurs.
"The transport entrepreneurs are already collecting higher fares than what the technical panel then recommended. Further rise in fare will only do injustice to general commute”s," Simkhada.
Sharad Chandra Poudel, director general of the Department of Transport Management, admitted the government´s failure to enforce the fares it fixed in the pas“. "As for the latest demand, we are still to get formal request from the entrepreneurs," he said.
Bhandari, however, said NTENF had already submitted their demand to Minister for Labor and Transport Management.“
"It is not just the matter of fuel cost, the costs of other components such as spare parts, maintenance costs and administrative cost, too have soared over the last eight months," he said he, arguing in favor of fare hike.
prabhakar@myrepublica.com
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