The Bus and Taxi Owners Association of Zambia has tentatively increased bus fares by 22 percent effective 8th October following a consultative meeting by the Road Transport and Safety Agency and bus and taxi operators.
The position was arrived at following the increase in the fuel pump prices early October this year.
The Energy Regulations Board on 2nd October announced an upward adjustment in fuel pump prices per liter by K2.31 for Petrol, K2.64 for Diesel and Low Sulphur Gas and K2.49 for Kerosene due to changes in the fundamentals that determine fuel prices.
During a meeting this week, the bus operators requested to vary their current Road Service Licences by making adjustment of bus fares as stipulated under the Road Traffic Act Number 11 of 2002.
RTSA Head of Public Relations Fredrick Mubanga confirmed that the desired increase has been effected after approval by all concerned stakeholders including the Ministry of Transport and Communications.
“The move is in line with the conditions under which the Road Service Licences are granted. Subsection 12 (d) of Section 108 of the Road Traffic Act of 2002 underscores that a person applying for a road service license, and a holder of such a licence applying for its variation, shall submit to the Director the rate of fares of the proposed services”. Mr. Mubanga explained.
He however said that for certain routes, the fares will be less than 22 percent as guided by fare charts that will be prepared by the Association in consultation with RTSA.
Mr. Mubanga said additionally, the concerned stakeholders including the Ministry of Transport and Communications will be holding another meeting next week to discuss this matter further and the public will be informed accordingly.
Meanwhile, Fuel prices are expected to go down following a memorandum of understanding between the Zambian government and the Ministry of Energy of Angola for an installation of a pipe line that is expected to be bringing in fuel into the country.
The MOU is expected to be signed today October 10 by the two neighboring countries, Minister of Energy Mathew Nkhuwa told parliament on October 9 during the presentation of his ministerial statement.
Mr Nkhuwa disclosed that this is one of the measures meant to sure that prices of fuel are reduced for the benefits of Zambians.
The Minister has also disclosed that government is also expanding the fuel line by increasing the fuel production at Indeni and will also bring in equity partners who will also bring in cheaper oil into the country.
Mr Nkhuwa indicated that so far five bidders have expressed interest to be strategic partners and by November this year successful bidders will be announced.
Meanwhile 1st Deputy Speaker of the National Assembly Catherine Namugala has directed Mr Nkhuwa to return to the house on Friday and present a comprehensive statement on the 20 million Saudi Arabia oil deal which was meant to stabilize the fuel prices for a period of five years.
Ms Namugala made her directive to the Minister after Members of Parliament asked the Minister to explain to the house on what happened to the Saudi Oil deal which was going to see a reduction in the fuel prices to K5 local currency.
The Deputy Speaker told Mr Nkhuwa that he would be given an opportunity to come back to the house on Friday to issue a statement on the price stability of the fuel prices in relation to the Saudi Arabia oil deal which was signed by government in Jeda in 2016.
Zambians let us be serious, as much as this hurts; oil prices have been going up for months. Zambia should have made a pipe line to Angola during the Obama cheap oil years. A refinery in Western province to bolster Indeni should have been constructed using Euro bonds, and none of this nonsense would even be happening. Once oil prices go up, so does the pump price, it is economics. Sad that our family members have to feel the pinch though.
They need to eat too, so i think this is a GREAT idea.
Watch the nincompoops below still want the bus operators to not pass the price they have suffered.
A lack of nounce in understanding the easy science of pull down in economics.
If you want to blame anyone, you blame the source of fuel
I hold a PhD, so i must be forgiven that I see things a little different to a common person.
Thats just my awesomeness and brains at play people.
Tahnks
BB2014,2016
People can be very dull.
THE PRICE OF CRUDE HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH HIKES IN FUEL PRICES.
The Kwacha has depreciated, hence more Dollars are needed to buy the same volume of crude.
The Kwacha is depreciating because the Dollars have been bought in large amounts by those with the power to print Kwacha secretly.
The culprits know themselves.
It is called money laundering.
Kwasila!
Prices should not be controlled nor price fixed as the taxis association has done. Allow for competitive pricing for quality service. Kaunda mentality should disappear.
Who hikes imitengo by 22%? 2021 kwalepa
Very interesting indeed.
“Meanwhile, Fuel prices are expected to go down following a memorandum of understanding between the Zambian government and the Ministry of Energy of Angola…..”
Really?? So they sign the MOU and the price goes down??
Either its poor journalism or the Minister of Energy is misleading the people. Installation of the pipeline will not take days to have an impact on the current price. Why should he be lying even on such simple and straight forward things?
Thank God its not HH or his Panama money that hiked the prices…. HH the dooms day preacher hahaha. He’ an economics prophet who makes profits.
Bonehead Mushota back again, was hoping she stopped blogging for good. PHD and claiming to have a brain, yes albeit small, because of excess bone structure in the skull, hence ‘BONEHEAD’. PHD, my foot!!!
Petroleum in Angola is foreign owned, for your own information; and from the lat time I checked the Chinese are not involved. It’s the same west you don’t like who are in control
That is mad. Where is the ordinary commuter going to get the money for fares?
But let me ask you this…
When did Lungu and his groupies ever consider the “ordinary commuter”?
They have Land Cruisers, and Jets.
Just enjoy what you voted for.
“…Meanwhile, Fuel prices are expected to go down following a memorandum of understanding between the Zambian government and the Ministry of Energy of Angola for an installation of a pipe line that is expected to be bringing in fuel into the country…”
Yes in 5 years time….in the meantime music pleas
….dunna reversee yeee dunnuna….bambi nikosa bolla , dunnuna yee …..
Even in 5 years, we will still get stories as they did with Saudi Arabia.
I wonder why these people lie even on such straight forward things for the sake of making headlines? Or simply they are clueless about what they are doing.
Are Zambians buying into such s.hi..t ?
Zambia should have used the Euro Bonds to build a pipeline from Angola. No they wanted to use in on a rail line that could have been fixed in stages easily. Oil has gone up planet wide, so prices have too.
Garden-shed economics my friend.
Angola is NOT the solution in the short or medium term.
They are in deep trouble with the Chinese themselves. They owe over 25 Billion US to our brothers from China.
Your problems in zed are NOT due to the price of crude oil.
Sivinthu fuel which was meant to stabilize price for 5 years we hear that it was only able to cutter for one week, so we make a lots of money here aii? $20 million worth of product in one week?
Wait……………Oil came in from Saudi and Prices went up TWICE this time from Angola. Ooooh they sure hike it for the Third time
What difference will a costly pipeline do? There is a pipeline between Dar elsalam & Ndola, but what hapens, fuel is transported by Tanzanian trucks into Zambia. No Zambia is involved. All the money is externalised. So who wants to buy into the story of a new pipeline? Zambia is corrupt to the core
This is what happens when you have reckless lazy incompetent people running the economy …we are paying the price and this is just the start!!
Fellow patriotic Zambians let us work together to ensure that public facilities such as bus station, airports and markets are under the management of the local authority. Pf cadres have taken over theses facilities and guess who is benefiting? mostly their concubines and use the extra cash to fuel political violence, Increasing of bus fares is inevitable at this moment until a sober government is put in place.
If you were serious about getting rid of cadres you wouldn’t have elected Sampa as Mayor…really sad he thinks free wifi is a priority. Last time he touched them his bosses sent cadres to kidnap him….no one was arrested.
You have a chawama tarven local crook in state house….with thugs as political advisores
…..never in the history of zambia has so much tear gas been used to smoke out opponents and any one deemed as threat to lungu as of now….
These theives are talking like building a pipeline is as simple as running a garden horse pipe !
When will you start ? When will you finish ?
Yet many are nodding their heads that after signing MOU, the price will go down…..Abracadabra …just like that.
And you have a couple of fuuuls complaining when you say Zambians are DOCILE.
Too high. Just where are we going to baPaFwaka. K2 on gas does not imply K2 per passanger – NO. Lousy mathematics aimed to steal from the poor.
Disaster!!!!!
H.H. was right. H.H. has ever been right. What do you expect from pamafi? ( dung)
maybe now you guys will wake up and make better decisions in the voting booths.
you made the bed now you’ve to lay in it
oil prices is controlled by opec… and prices do fluctuate. when’s the last time gas prices in Zambia were reduced as result of low oil prices?
where I am gas prices have been going down for the past 4 months. It might go up by about a buck and within a few days prices will start going down
what’s happening in Zambia is wrong economics coupled with mismanagement and corruption
the little money that you guys are making is spread so thin, there’s no disposable income in most homes. it’s a shame
The Lazy Lungu Day of silly prayers will soon be upon us time to pray for the economy…I mean this chap is so lazy that he spent 3 days in Kampala ..he still has time to go to the stadium and watch the match at Hero’s stadium!!
Those talking about building a refinery in Western province and getting oil from Angola.Building a combined hydrocracking, hyrdroskimming, catalytic cracking refinery, can cost anywhere between 5-15 billion USD.
The PF government already owes 9 billion USD in form of Chinese loans and EURO bonds.How much more can the country now borrow?
Important to think.
Source of oil does not affect its price. Price is determined by the oil markets. If one went to KCM to buy copper, price paid will be the same as one buying copper in Japan. Also, ultimately, prices are fixed by competition. Even in monopolies, smuggling ensures that the monopolizer does not get away with price fixing. Then the distance of that pipeline from Cabinda enclave near Congo and Cameroon where Angola extracts oil will be longer than the distance from Dar es Salaam. Even longer than the distance from Ndola to Cape Town.