All Private Interstate Passengers Transport Company Owners of Nigeria (APTCON) have concluded plans to increase bus fares across interstate routes by 25 percent.
APTCON made this known in an internal memo sent to all members of the association titled’ Notification Of Price Increase Effective 25th August, 2022′ and obtained by Naija News.
According to the Internal Memo, APTCON asked members to kickstart the increased fares by 25th August, 2022, blaming “harsh economic situation as well as the recently announced increase in petrol pump price across the country” for the increment in bus fares.
APTCON stated that, in collaboration with its member companies, they unanimously agreed that a marginal increase in interstate transportation fares is inevitable.
Economic downturn
The association noted that Nigeria is facing a downturn that has greatly affected all sectors of the economy especially transportation.
“In response to the high cost of operations, while many trade associations have increased charges as a means of survival, some others, like the elitist airlines, have received post pandemic intervention funds from the government.
“Unfortunately, our industry, who moves 96% of Nigerians, is not exempt from the crisis as our operating costs have risen significantly without any form of governmental support or incentive,” the memo stated.
It stated that these challenges have taken a significant toll on the revenue of private transport company owners across Nigeria as most transporters are either operating at a loss or at cost.
“While some have had to shut down operations completely, many others have expressed their inability to pay salaries much less run profitably.
“To address the situation, APTCON hereby implores all private interstate passenger transport company owners of Nigeria to increase bus fares by at least 25% effective 25th August, 2022,” the Inter memo read.
Problems affecting transport companies
APTCON went further to list out challenges facing the interstate transport sector in Nigeria as:
• Price of fuelling vehicles increased from N165 to N179 –(percentage increase of 7%)
• Cost of Diesel has risen from an average of N250 a year ago to over N800 today (percentage increase of 220%)
• Nigeria’s inflation hits a 65-month high of 18.6% in June 2022 significantly increasing cost of operations by at least 50%
• Scarcity of Forex and high exchange rates have made it impossible for transporters to purchase new vehicles.
• Cost of spare parts for vehicle maintenance has risen by almost 80%
• Unit cost of Hiace buses have risen from N25million to N37 million – (percentage increase of 48%)
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