Punjab govt hikes metro bus fares

LAHORE: The fare of Metro Bus Service (MBS) has been raised to Rs 30 from Rs 20 as the subsidy has been removed from the fare price whereas a notification on the same has been issued by the Government of Punjab Services and General Administration Department (S&GAD) (Cabinet Wing), Pakistan Today learnt.

Pakistan Today also learnt that the fare has been increased after almost six years by ending the subsidy on the fare which was a provision for the lower-income people by the PMLN government.

The MBS was launched in 2011 by the former chief minister Punjab Mian Muhammad Shehbaz Sharif and it is 27 Km long track on which the metro bus runs.

The subsidy on both Lahore and Rawalpindi metro buses has been removed by the new PTI government according to the notification issued by S&GAD cabinet wing

According to the government, almost 80 crores will be earned from increasing 10 rupees in the existing fare of the metro bus. While Rs 1.5 billion rupees of subsidy will be decreased annually.

A resident of Gajumata Shabbir Malik expressed his resentment over this decision by the government and said that the new government has taken away all facilities from the lower-income groups of society. “The government has made everything expensive and firstly they made our lives difficult by increasing the prices of routine items and now this raise in the metro bus fare is another nail in the coffins of the poor and low-income category people. There is no increase in my salary whereas the prices of everything else have been increased so how do I meet both ends.”

A resident of Nishtar Colony Muhammad Irfan Qureshi said, “I am working in Urdu Bazar for which I regularly use the metro bus because it costs me less. I don’t earn much and am unable to meet the expenses and this increase in the metro bus fare is another bombshell on us. Already I am facing difficulty in running my house because of high inflation and now I am thinking that how I would commute from my house to my workplace”.

Shakeela Awan living near Ferozpur Road said, “I am the only earner in my house because my husband died in a bomb blast and I have to look after my three children with a limited salary that I get by working in different houses. I am already upset with the increased rates of utility bills and grocery and other household items. This new government has made our lives miserable by increasing the prices of all utilities and I think they should kill all the poor people because in the present circumstances poor people like us are dying with every passing minute because of high prices and other issues”.