“This is not the change I voted for”. This is the politest and most publishable comment one may have heard from the transport community in the past week or so. The Rickshaw walas are complaining. So are the public transport runners. Not sure if they are complaining to the government. But they sure are complaining to the commuters.

Let us do some math. An average Rickshaw owner fills the CNG tank with 4kg of the fuel every day, based on anecdotal evidence. With a rise of Rs22/kg for CNG – the cost goes up by Rs88 per day. The fare prices have gone up by at least the same percentage – which simply means more bounty for the Rickshaw walas. This gas price increase stands to create windfall profits, and augment the already exuberant margins, as this is more than just a pass through event.

Turn to the public transport now, which is supposed to be regulated. The public bus fares have reportedly gone up by a massive 50 percent in Karachi. Recall that the mafia that the public transport has become used to increased fares on every increase in Diesel rates, when in fact over 80 percent of vehicles had been converted to CNG. The Sindh government would do well to look into the matter – as the masses must not be made to pay well beyond the increase in prescribed prices.

This brings the media handling strategy of the government in question. Blaming it on the previous government is fine but cannot continue forever. In events of such sensitivity where it hits the masses the most, it is best to have an awareness campaign of sorts. Not that, the masses will ever gladly accept any price increase, but at least the point has to be made through.

That the CNG is the most inefficient usage of the precious and fast depleting natural gas is well documented. At the same time, it is not well-known to the masses. The media too has it fair share in failing to keep rationale over populism – but the buck stops at the government. Difficult decisions will always be…well…difficult. And this is where making public aware of the phasing out strategy of CNG, which has been in place since 2011, can at least lessen the damage. Bear in mind, the CNG sector is all set to be completely based on imported LNG – which, as of now, is at least 40 percent dearer than today’s prices.

Today it is the transporters, tomorrow it will be every uncle and aunt at the wedding and roadsides, when the electricity tariffs go up. That won’t be an easy sell. But people must be made aware why the prices need to go up. In case of electricity, it should be accompanied with a well thought out plan of how the government plans to bring the tariffs down, in ‘n’ number of years. Without it, be ready for a ‘greater than proportionate rise in inflation, which unfairly burdens the paying public. And also be ready to face more music and name calling.