Business Recorder
PESHAWAR: Transporters here on Friday announced to increase in both passenger and goods fares by 20 to 65 percent respectively following the unprecedented fuel price hike. Transporters took a stance that they have compelled to further increase the fares in a month due to the continuous surge in price of petroleum commodities by the government. According to a survey, it was noted that transporters made an increase in fares at the start of last month after a surge in fuel prices. In the beginning of current month, the fares had gone up massively to — Rs137.24 per litre in petrol and Rs184.49 per litre in diesel — is simply unbearable for us,” Khan Zaman Afridi, president of Provincial President of the Public Transport Owners Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa told this scribe. In wake of the record increase in fuel prices, Afridi said all transport organisations held a joint meeting in Peshawar and took a decision unanimously that fares should be increased 25 percent in inter-district and inter-provincial transport fares. He added that in Punjab, passenger fares have already been increased by as much as 65 percent. Meanwhile, the Pakistan Goods Transporters Owners Association has also announced a 65 percent increase in freight charges, similar to the hike implemented in March. Transporters complained that the federal government announces fuel price increases overnight without taking stakeholders into confidence, leading to frequent disputes between transporters and the public. The Association president noted that the provincial government has yet to issue a revised fare schedule, as fuel price hikes are often announced at times when the following day is a public holiday. On the other hand, Awami National Party central president Aimal Wali Khan strongly condemned the recent sharp increase in petroleum prices, calling it a “shameful and anti-people” move. He said the government was using global conditions as a pretext to burden the public. While acknowledging that a global oil crisis exists, he argued that the scale and manner of price increases in Pakistan indicate not just incompetence but a deliberate policy. He maintained that current prices do not reflect the international market but are instead driven by taxes, levies and government economic policies. Copyright Business Recorder, 2026
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