Government plans to raise public transportation fares
Government plans to raise public transportation fares
Muninggar Sri Saraswati, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Intercity land and sea transportation tariffs will increase by
between 10 and 20 percent due to the soaring oil prices, a
minister says.
Minister of Transportation Hatta Radjasa said on Tuesday
the increase in transportation fares was essential as
transportation providers could not compromise on the safety of
passengers, while the fuel price increase had caused an increase
in the prices of spare parts.
Hatta said the government was examining a proposal from the
Association of Land Transportation Owners (Organda), which had
demanded a 40 percent increase.
"The Organda proposal is a bit high. But, (the increase) must
be between 10 to 20 percent," he said after attending
a plenary session at the Regional Representatives Council (DPD).
Hatta said the government considered the land and sea
transportation fares increase inevitable as transportation
companies must renew their fleet in a bid to ensure the safety of
passengers.
Since the government announced the fuel price increase in
March, public transportation fares have remained unchanged,
except for taxi fares, Hatta said.
"The rising international oil prices have led to an increase
in the price of transportation spare parts. If we don't raise the
fares, there will be a lot of accidents," he said.
The minister added that the government would also adjust
the ceilings on transportation tariffs.
"They are supposed to raise the fares every six months," Hatta
said.
The prevailing tariff scheme sets a floor price of Rp 69 per
passenger per kilometer, while the highest price is Rp 80, or
below 20 percent to over 20 percent of the operational costs,
Hatta said.
The government will discuss Organda's demand with
transportation stakeholders, including the Indonesia Consumers
Foundation (YLKI) and transportation councils.
"We would like to listen to their aspirations. But we will
also take into consideration people's economic condition," Hatta
said.
The government is responsible for the tariffs of intercity
and inter-province transportation systems while regional
administrations handle tariffs for regional public transportation
systems.
The government provided a land transportation subsidy, in the
form of fiscal incentives on import duties and taxes in March
following the fuel price increase.
It expected these incentives to enable land transportation
operators to slash their operational costs by 5 percent and
prevent them from raising their fares by more than 10 percent to
offset the impact of the recent fuel price increase.