Pan Malaysian Bus Operators Association president Datuk Mohamad Ashfar Ali reportedly said that fuel was only a small component of the operational costs, and that there were other factors including employees' wages that needed to be taken into account.
The Star however cited a news report last year when the diesel price was increased by 20 sen to RM2 in September 2013, in which the Selangor and Kuala Lumpur Lorry Operators Association had said the cost of diesel made up 30% to 40% of the operating costs.
Ashfar said bus operators had to deal with other expenses to run their business, including the minimum wage imposition of RM900.
“Buses run daily, even on public holidays, so we need to pay our employees double or triple their daily wage on these days which goes into our operational costs,” he was quoted as saying.
The pump price of RON95 petrol was yesterday reduced by 21 sen to RM1.70 a litre while RON97 was at RM2 a litre (an 11-sen drop) and diesel at RM1.70 a litre (23-sen drop).
Ashfar said he wanted the government to deregulate express bus fares and allow them to be determined by supply and demand, the same as airline tickets and hotel rates.
He added that this would allow tickets to be sold at cheaper prices during certain periods.
Meanwhile, the report also quoted Johor Lorry Operators Association president Anthony Tan as saying that it was too early to determine if prices would come down, adding that there were other reasons why the old rates still applied, such as the high cost of imported spare parts, declining ringgit and high labour charges.
As such, he added that any price movement would depend on market forces, pointing out that they were not allowed to inform members of rates under the Anti-Competition Act.
“For us, what’s more important is that the price of diesel continues to stabilise,” Tan said, according to the report.
- TMI
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