News

FCCC to regulate and determine PSV fares

November 22, 2019 4:39 pm

The Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission will now be able to decide fares and charges for the use of public service vehicles.

This comes after Parliament passed the Land Transport Amendment Bill 2019 this afternoon.

Attorney-General Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum says the Land Transport Authority does not have the capacity or expertise to regulate the public service vehicle fares.

Article continues after advertisement

“By signing the responsibility for fixing and declaring fares to FCCC specifically the bill guarantees that the exercise is undertaken by an organization that processes the necessary expertise to do so and ensures there’s no political interference nor is there any political manipulation. Nor is there any approaches by bus companies to Ministers and Permanent Secretaries or LTA that actually regulates them for whether their bus is in compliance with international standards or road standards or not.”

Sayed-Khaiyum says the FCCC will be able to conduct bus fare reviews based on changes in fuel prices and it will be done transparently and independently as the bus companies will be providing the Commission with their audited accounts.

The Attorney General clarified that establishing a fare structure for public service vehicles is a complex exercise and takes into account various factors including the ever-fluctuating price of fuel and inflation.