The new fare structure is almost 40 percent lower than what the truckers have been levying.[break]
In the absence of standard fare for those routes, people are forced to pay excessive fare for delivery of goods, which ultimately drives up the prices of essential commodities in the market. For example, truckers charge up to Rs 50,000 per trip to transport goods from Dhangadi to Kathmandu. The government has fixed the fare on the route to Rs 29,214 per trip.
The government on December 28, 2009 had fixed fares on Birgunj-Kathmandu, Bhairahawa-Kathmandu, Birgunj-Pokhara and Bhairawa-Pokhara routes at Rs 7.90 per ton/km and Rs 3.40 per ton/km for hills and Tarai routes respectively. It had fixed fare for Birgunj-Kathmandu route at Rs 15,886 per trip, Bhairawa-Kathmandu at Rs 16,260, Birgunj-Pokhara at Rs 14,306 and Bhairawa-Pokhara at Rs 14,680.
“We have fixed new fare for 43 more routes on the basis of the fare determined earlier for the four routes. We hope the fixation of maximum fare would discourage the trend of arbitrary fare fixation in the name of syndicates,” said Krishna Prasad Dawadi, acting director general of the Department of Transport Management (DoTM).
Protesting exorbitant transport fares fixed by truckers´ syndicate and the deep-rooted transport syndicate, business people had launched protest in the far-west a couple of months back. The protest was led by the Federation of Nepalese Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FNCCI).
Now that the cap on transportation fare has been fixed, Dawadi said there would no longer be dispute among customers and truckers.
Eighteen of the 42 routes fall in both Tarai and hilly districts, 25 in Tarai districts and 18 in hilly districts. The 926 km Kakadvitta-Mahendranagar highway is the longest route with truck fare of Rs 31,484, while the 214 km Bhairawa-Janakpur route shortest with fare of Rs 7,242.
The government has been adopting scientific fare fixation system, calculating the fixed cost and variable costs incurred. The system gives 35 percent weightage to fuel and 65 percent weightage to non-fuel factors. The non-fuel factors include bank interests, spare parts, staff salary, administrative costs and maintenance, among others.
The government had hiked public transport fare for 429 routes across the country by 9 percent on February 2.
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