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Urban public passenger fares in the Greater Maputo Metropolitan Area may rise from the current 7 and 9 meticais to 12 and 15 meticais for distances below or over 10 kilometres respectively.
A proposal to revise tariffs has just been presented to Maputo Municipal Assembly with the aim of covering operating costs and creating conditions for the quality of services to improve, AIM Moçambique reports today.
“Current rates of 7 and 9 meticais set in 2012 are quite inadequate and do not take into account the real operating costs, and the subsidy mechanism implemented never managed to mitigate or balance costs,” the proposal, to which Notícias has had access, reads.
The document takes into account the technical tariff (the cost of transport divided by the number of passengers), the historical evolution of prices, as well as the Value Added Tax exemption on transport services.
“In September”
“The actual cost per passenger/kilometre is 1.5 meticais. A gradual readjustment of the tariff on the annual basis of 0.10 meticais per passenger/kilometre is therefore recommended,” the document adds.
Maputo municipality Councillor for Transport João Matlhombe told Noticias that the proposal is expected “to be considered and approved by the Municipal Assembly in its next session, in September,” AIM reports [today is August 24].
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“This review seeks to bring together the public and private sector by organising the public transport system on the principle of granting corridors to operators as a way of making the activity sustainable. It must be taken into account that the ideal tariff is more than 35 meticais,” explained Matlhombe.
Mathlombe explained that the adjusted tariffs would still be below real cost, so the government would have to continue subsidising services to cover the deficit and strike a balance between costs and revenues.
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