Twin cities metro bus having bumpy ride

ISLAMABAD: The Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus is having a bumpy ride as it is currently facing more than 30,000 passenger shortfall per-day due to increase in fare-price whereas the federal government has defaulted on paying Rs5 billion subsidy on the twin-cities metro bus service.

Since Imran Khan has taken over the charge as the Prime Minister of Pakistan, the federal government has not paid even a single penny to the Punjab government as subsidy on Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus service despite an agreement of sharing the half subsidy with provincial government. Last time the federal government paid any subsidy for the twin-cities metro services was in 2017-18 by Shahid Khaqan Abbasi government. The then federal government paid Rs1.4 billion to the provincial government of Punjab.

Currently Rs5 billion are outstanding against the federal government which it has to pay to the provincial government as subsidy on twin-cities metro bus service. The Punjab chief secretary has written several letters to the federal government including the Ministry of Interior as well as Capital Development Authority; however, the provincial government has received no response yet.

A top official in the Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMTA) has informed The News that overall the passengers’ ratio has declined after the government’s decision of increasing the fare prices from Rs20 to Rs30. During the last winter around 155,000 to 160,000 passengers would commute through the twin-cities metro bus service every day. However, this year the number has decreased drastically as the current per day ratio of the commuters is around 120,000 to 125,000. This decline in metro bus riders has resulted in shortfall of revenue.

“The entire burden has now shifted to the Punjab government as the federal government is not paying the subsidy amount despite repeated reminders. The PMTA was expecting an annual increase of Rs800 million in the revenue by increasing bus fare from Rs20 to Rs30 in the two metropolitan cities. However, it is quite surprising that the number of passenger has decreased up to 20,000 in Lahore and more than 30,000 in Rawalpindi-Islamabad on daily basis. It is very strange for us to know that the passenger is so sensitive about fare,” said the official. Total annual expenditures and subsidies for PMTA

The Punjab government is paying Rs8 billion to the PMTA annually to run its operations i.e. metro bus services in three metropolitan cities—Lahore, Rawalpindi-Islamabad and Multan—and Speedo-Bus service in Lahore and Multan.

The top official has further informed that Metro Bus Authority receives Rs2.2 billion subsidy from the Punjab government for its Lahore operations and Rs1.9 billion for its Rawalpindi/Islamabad operations. This year however, due to JUI-F sit in the Metro Bus service in twin cities was suspended for almost 15 days, the authority has to face a shortfall in the revenue. Resultantly, the PMTA has to pay additional subsidy to Rawalpindi-Islamabad Metro Bus service.

To a question about the total subsidy received by the federal government, the official informed that despite various reminders the federal government has not issued even a single penny to Punjab government. It is pertinent to mention here that the federal government shares half of the subsidy for Rawalpindi/Islamabad operations.

Is Multan Metro Bus a liability?

When asked whether Multan Metro Bus Authority is a liability as the media has reported many a time that the Multan Metro Bus service is a failed project because the number of commuters is far low than the expectation. The PMTA official said that the Multan Metro Bus project is running smoothly. Though the very first day around 8,500 commuters used this bus service. However, during the last two years around 35,000 passengers travelled through this bus service every day. Currently the ratio of passengers on Multan Metro Bus has increased to 45,000 every day and this number is constant during last two months.

He said that as per the feasibility report of Multan Metro Bus project, around 93,000 passengers were estimated to use this bus service every day. Although this target has not been achieved but even then a significant improvement has been witnessed as far as the ratio of commuters is concerned.

Non-payment of salaries to staff

Talking about the recent strike by the staff for non-payment of the salaries, the official said that the PMTA had outsourced everything to various companies and paying all the dues to them. It is on their part whether they pay their salaries to the staff or not. The recent strike by the ticketing staff was resolved within hours after the PMTA authorities took notice of this.

The PMTA had given contract of ticketing to a private company Inbox Pvt Ltd which is being paid Rs32 million monthly for its operations in Rawalpindi-Islamabad and Rs19 million for its Lahore operations. Recently the contract with Inbox was expired in Lahore and probably they utilised the funds and may be this was the reason of non-payment to their staff. However, the issue has been resolved.

When contacted, Manager Operations Rawalpindi Islamabad Metro Bus project Miss Shumaila Mohsin said it was true the number of passengers in the twin cities metro bus service has declined during this winter as compared to previous. One of the reason of this decline might be the increase in fare however, there are many other factors involved in this shortfall, she said.

She also confirmed that the federal government hasn’t paid the amount of subsidy since 2017-18 however, she said she doesn’t know the exact amount.

“The federal government has sent its representatives who will verify the due amount it has to pay as subsidy. Once they verify all the facts and figure they will send the report to the federal government after which the due subsidy amount will be released,” she said.