School van fares in Islamabad and Rawalpindi rise by up to 40 percent
Parents say operators want Rs2,000 to Rs4,000 more a month with no regulator setting rates; one operator puts the rise at Rs1,500.
School van operators in Islamabad and Rawalpindi have raised monthly fares by up to 40 percent after the latest increase in petrol prices, parents said, with no regulator setting or approving the rates.
Parents told TechJuice and ProPakistani that operators are asking for Rs2,000 to Rs4,000 more each month, in many cases for children whose schools are only three to five kilometres from home.
Sidra, a mother of two, said her children's van driver raised the monthly fare from Rs6,000 to Rs8,000 for the ten-minute journey from G-10 to a school in F-7. She questioned the increase because the government has announced a petrol subsidy for vehicles with engines of up to 800cc. She also said operators keep charging the full fare during the summer and winter holidays, leaving parents with little room to challenge them.
Both outlets put the top of the increase at 40 percent. TechJuice reported that the rise has landed hardest on families whose children travel short distances.
Van operators defended the move. One operator told the outlets that higher petrol and CNG prices, vehicle maintenance, traffic fines and driver salaries had made the previous rates unworkable. He said parents overlook the commission operators pay to schools, and insisted fares had gone up by Rs1,500 a month, not the Rs2,000 to Rs4,000 that parents describe. Neither report reconciled the two accounts of how large the increase is.
Parents quoted by the outlets called for oversight of school van charges. A parent quoted by TechJuice said the fares were being raised without any authority checking them.
Neither report carried comment from the Islamabad district administration, the Punjab transport department or any other body on whether school van fares are regulated, or on what recourse parents have when an operator raises a rate mid-term.
The twin cities sit in different jurisdictions: Rawalpindi is in Punjab and Islamabad is the federal capital territory, so any regulation of school transport would fall to two separate administrations.
ProPakistani also reported the fares are collected in full through school holidays, a practice parents in both cities have objected to.
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