All Pakistan Transport Owners Association raised inter-city transport fares on Friday owing to an increase in petroleum prices two days ago.
Transporters increased the fares of transport to 100 cities from Lahore. The ticket for Karachi is Rs 200 costlier now and available for Rs 2,300 while the fare to go Islamabad from Lahore has increased by Rs 30. The costs to go Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Multan and Murree have increased by Rs 50, 20, 60 and 50 respectively. On all other routes for which the transport service is available from Lahore, fares have been increased by five to 10 percent. All Pakistan Transport Owner Federation Chairman Azam Khan Niazi, talking to Pakistan Today, said that transporters did not raise fares deliberately but were forced to do so because of increasing prices of fuel. Economic conditions are not in a good state for higher transportation fares but there is no other option for transporters, Niazi said. He said that all transporters decided to raise fares with consultation.