The Provincial Transport Authority (PTA) has sent a summary on fixation of separate fare rates for CNG and diesel consuming commuter vehicles to the provincial secretary transport for presentation in the Cabinet for approval.
Talking to APP, a senior official of PTA said that the authority has also suggested seeking of the views and comments of Regional Transport Authorities (RTAs) and collection of the existing fare rates from the PTAs of other provinces to maintain parity after revision of fares. According to the official the summary has been moved on the application of transport association after the recent increase in the price of petroleum and diesel products. The provincial transport authority reviewed transport fares on slab bases, which presently is up to Rs 80 per litre, which is expected to be crossed shortly.
In this connection, RTAs have also been asked for holding meetings with transport associations to reach an acceptable agreement on the fixation of fare rates for CNG used vehicles. Proposal for fixation of separate fare rates for the CNG-fitted vehicles has been made in wake of the growing complaints of the people travelling in the commuter vehicles regarding exorbitant transport fares in the province.
The authority, he said, had learnt that more than 70 percent commuter vehicles particularly, vans plying on long inter-provincial and intra-provincial routes have been converted into CNG consuming vehicles. CNG is many-fold economical than diesel. Both fuels have big Differences, in the price as well as consumption. The price of one kilogram CNG is Rs 55.33 as compare to Rs 71 per litre of diesel. A vehicle consume one kilogram of gas after travelling of 18-19 kilometers against 8-9 kilometers distance of diesel. Like diesel, the PTA is going to fixed slab based fare rates for the CNG consuming commuter vehicles. In case of increase in the price of POL products and gas, the fare of the diesel and CNG run vehicles would be revised on full and half ratio basis.