Organda: Bus Fares to Increase by 20 Percent on Eid al-Fitr

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Head of West Java's Organization of Land Transportation Owners' (Organda), Dedeh Winarsih, said that fares for public transportation will rise ahead of the upcoming Eid al-Fitr holiday - as such, public bus service providers will set an upper limit to prevent tariffs from spiralling out. "We will put a price ceiling for these bus fares," said Dedeh to Tempo on Thursday, July 9, 2015.

Dedeh said that public transport providers had asked the government to allow them to impose a surcharge during the Ramadan holiday period - a suggestion that was promptly turned down by the government, who proposed a price ceiling for economy class seats only.

"As a result, fares will rise by 15-20 percent during the holiday period - we initally asked for a 25 percent hike through the application or surcharges," said Dedeh.

The Chief of Cicaheum Bus Terminal in Bandung, Abdul Haris, explained that the prices for economy class seats are tightly regulated by the government - for instance, prices for interprovince bus tickets are regulated and decided through a Gubernatorial Decree. "The decree sets out the upper and lower price caps for these tickets," Abdul said, before adding that executive and business class tickets are left to market forces to decide.

"Of course, any changes in price needs to be approved by Organda beforehand - any increases does not usually exceed 25 percent," said Dedeh.

The Head of West Java's Transport Agency, Dedi Taufik, said that his officials will continue to monitor the pricing of tickets during the Ramadan holiday period. "We will keep an eye on economy class fares," said Dedi.

AHMAD FIKRI