KUALA LUMPUR, May 3 (Bernama) -- The Commercial Vehicle Licensing Board (CVLB) has been urged to set a price ceiling if it were to allow public transport operators determine their own fares.
Fomca communication director Mohd Yusof Abdul Rahman said: "The plan to liberalise fares is good but the question here is, are the public transport operators ready to compete healthily?
"We admit that the proposal has good and bad implications but it also has to be fine tuned before being implemented. In this respect, Fomca suggests for a fare ceiling to be set."
This would ensure the public would not be burdened by the fare liberalisation, he told Bernama here today.
CVLB chairman Datuk Markiman Kobiran said yesterday that the board planned to allow public transport operators, especially those running express buses, decide their own fares based on the quality of service and market demand.
Yusof said liberalising fares would probably enable users to make price comparisons based on the quality of service provided by the operators.
However, the operators could probably also make a pact among themselves to decide on the fare structure without taking public interest and service quality into account, he said.
"Even now, when fares are determined by the CVLB, some errant operators still overcharge their passengers. Imagaine what would happen if they are given the freedom to set their own fares?," he said.
He said indiscrimate fare hikes often occurred during the festive season, for example during the recent Chinese New Year celebration where an express bus imposed a fare up to RM220, double that of a normal one-way trip from Johor Baharu to Penang.
-- BERNAMA
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