40% TAXI FARE HIKE; MINISTER TABLES LEGAL NOTICE

MANZINI – Taxi fares are set to also go up by 40 per cent.

This is according to a legal notice which was tabled by the Minister of Public Works and Transport, Chief Ndlaluhlaza Ndwandwe, in Parliament on Wednesday, which seek to amend the Maximum Bus and Taxi Fares Regulations - Legal Notice 1 of 2020. In the legal notice, which is made of the proposed bus fares hike by public transport operators, the minister said the basis for the calculation of maximum fares for the conveyance of passengers by means of a taxi could increase as the charge for any passenger of a journey of up to three kilometres, would pay E70 from the current E50, which translates to 40 per cent hike.

The minister added that according to the proposed hike, for a trip in excess of three kilometres, a charge per kilometre would be E10, from the current E8. This translates to 25 per cent increase. The minister tabled the legal notice in exercise of the powers conferred upon him by Section 36 of the Road Transportation Act No. 5 of 2007. He said the notice could be cited as the Maximum Bus and Taxi Fares (Amendment) Regulations of 2022, and should come into force with effect from the date of publication.

The minister said the basis for the calculation of maximum fares for the conveyance of passengers by means of a bus would be E13 for any passenger journey of up to eight kilometres. This reflects a 68.8 per cent increase from E7.70. On the other hand, through the legal notice, the minister said it was proposed that for a journey in excess of eight kilometres, a charge per kilometre would be E0.73, from E0.66 (10 per cent). Meanwhile, for a journey in excess of 50 kilometres, he said the proposed charge per kilometre was E0.66, which would be a five per cent increase from the current E0.63. Worth noting is that the above proposed figures are yet to be debated in Parliament. As such, public transport operators will have a special meeting today at Swazi Commercial Amadoda Hall at kaKhoza, where they would be discussing and issuing of a mandate regarding the coming debate, among other things.

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