The Sindh government has announced a targeted public transport subsidy programme to stabilise fares, said Sindh Senior Minister for Information, Transport and Mass Transit Sharjeel Inam Memon in a statement issued on Monday.
He said the government had finalised the programme to provide relief to the public and keep transport fares stable. The transport sector was under severe pressure due to an unprecedented increase in petrol and diesel prices, due to which a targeted fuel differential subsidy had been introduced to prevent any additional burden on the public, he explained.
Under the scheme, he said, monthly financial assistance would be provided to transporters. In return, transporters would be required not to increase fares and to comply with government regulations.
The transport minister stated that the intra-city transport buses, minibuses and coaches would receive a subsidy of up to Rs240,000 per month, while wagons would receive Rs230,000 and Suzuki pickups Rs 60,000.
For the inter-city transport, buses would receive up to Rs1.2 million per month depending on the route, while wagons would receive between Rs180,000 and Rs750,000 depending on the distance.
The subsidy programme would apply to more than 9,000 intra-city and 1,100 inter-city vehicles, Memon said, adding that around 57 million passengers were expected to benefit from the subsidy each month.
The total monthly subsidy would be approximately Rs2.2 billion with an average relief of Rs38 per passenger. He said a fully digital app-based system had been introduced to ensure transparency. Through the digital app-based system, registration, verification and payments would be done directly through the Sindh Bank, he added.
The digital app-based system would be linked to the data of excise department, Regional Transport Authority and Provincial Transport Authority. Regular inspections and passenger feedback would also be included for effective monitoring of the scheme so that the quality of service could be improved.
The transport minister remarked that the initiative would not only stabilise fares but also reduce the financial burden on citizens and discourage unnecessary use of private vehicles. To ensure maximum registration, office working hours had been extended until April 15, he said, adding that a fuel subsidy of Rs2,000 would also be provided to every motorcycle owner registered with the provincial excise department.
