Taxi, bus fares to go up soon: Nazri

STAR, June 2, 2009

KUALA LUMPUR: Taxi and bus passengers must be prepared to fork out between 30% and 50% more for their trips, likely to be as soon as next month.

With the increase, a 10km taxi ride will cost more than RM10 instead of the current fare at RM8, and even more, should they get caught in a traffic jam.

Minister in the Prime Minister’s Department Datuk Seri Mohamed Nazri Abdul Aziz told reporters after hosting a dialogue with taxi operators and associations in the Klang Valley that a memorandum on the fare increase had been circulated to all ministries for their feedback.

The increase would encompass fares for taxis and stage, express and school buses, he said.

Under the proposal, Nazri said the starting fare for taxis would increase from RM2 to RM3 for the first kilometre with every subsequent 150m costing 13sen up from 10sen.

When the taxi is stationary, such as during a traffic jam, the proposed rate is 13sen for every 27 seconds, more than a 100% increase of the current fare structure of 10sen for every 45 seconds.

Nazri declined to reveal the proposed fare increase for buses, but sources had indicated that the hike would be around 30%.

Although Nazri said he would table the proposal in Cabinet only after receiving feedback from the ministries, it is understood that the matter could be decided within this month.

Besides asking for higher fares, operators also told the minister that they had problems buying insurance coverage for their vehicles as insurance companies did not want to sell them policies.

“I have spoken to the minister in charge of the Economic Planning Unit Tan Sri Nor Mohamed Yakcop and proposed that instead of a full liability plan, the Insurance Act should be amended to allow for limited liability.

“Right now, the insurance companies collect RM400mil a year in premiums, but the claims come up to about RM2bil. Maybe we can limit accident claims to RM5,000 or RM10,000,” he said.

Nazri also said that he was negotiating with tyre manufacturers, particularly Malaysian companies, to offer discounted tyres to public and commercial vehicles like taxis, buses and lorries.

“If one company agrees, I am prepared to give it monopoly (on tyre sales in the country). We have to give it a volume (of sales) so that it can afford to sell tyres at a low price,” he said.