LAHORE: The Punjab government has decided to increase the metro bus service fare in Lahore and Rawalpindi from Rs20 to Rs30. The increase will be implemented in July with the start of the new fiscal year.
A senior Punjab Masstransit Authority (PMA) official told media that the provincial government was giving the PMA a Rs1.9 billion annual subsidy to keep the fare at Rs20 per person from Saddar, Rawalpindi, to Pakistan Secretariat, Islamabad.
He said the new provincial government wanted to increase bus fares last year, but did not do so after public criticism. It has now approved the increase and clubbed it with budget proposals presented in the Punjab Assembly on June 14.
New fares to be implemented on Rawalpindi-Islamabad route and in Lahore; govt has clubbed increase with budget
PMA General Manager Operations Uzair Shah admitted that the government has decided to increase bus fares from Rs20 to Rs30, and clubbed the proposal with the budget.
He said the new fare would be implemented formally from July 1, and would earn the PMA Rs800 million. Mr Shah said the flat rate was fixed, because the PMA believed that a stop to stop fare would increase the burden on the public and lead to a fall in passengers.
The new fare will be implemented on the Rawalpindi-Islamabad route and in Lahore, but not in Multan. The government will notify the increase in fares after the provincial budget is approved.
