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Monday, February 2, 2015

Bus fares not going down despite diesel price drop, says association

Petrol prices fell yesterday but bus operators say ticket prices will remain unchanged. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, February 2, 2015.Petrol prices fell yesterday but bus operators say ticket prices will remain unchanged. – The Malaysian Insider file pic, February 2, 2015.Bus operators have no plans to reduce ticket prices despite the drop in pump prices for diesel this month as fuel cost only makes up a small portion of their operational expenses, The Star reported.
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.
“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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