Up, Up, UP go taxi fares

THE Namibia Bus and Taxi Association (Nabta) is set to hike taxi fares next week in response to tomorrow’s increase in fuel prices.

Nabta acting National Secretary Sakkie Malima told The Namibian yesterday that the decision to increase short-distance taxi fares was taken on July 7, but said the association still had to determine the percentage level. “We are definitely going to increase.At the moment we propose to increase from the current N$5,00 (per trip) to N$6,00 but Nabta still needs to get [the] approval of 51 per cent of its members,” Malima said.He said a final decision would be taken at a general meeting of Nabta members on Sunday.According to Malima, long-distance transport operators had not yet indicated to Nabta whether they would adjust their fares.The Minister of Mines and Energy, Dr Nickey Iyambo, last week announced an increase in the prices of petrol and diesel, the second in three months.With the new increase Namibians will, for the first time, have to pay more than N$4,00 for a litre of fuel.With the new increases, which come into effect at midnight, the pump prices of leaded petrol and unleaded petrol go up by 29 cents a litre while diesel increases by 28 cents per litre.In April the price of leaded and unleaded petrol jumped by 20 cents a litre while that of diesel went up by 17 cents a litre.Government attributes the sharp fuel price increases to the rise in the import parity price as a result of fluctuations in international crude oil prices.Should Nabta members vote to increase taxi fares by N$1 – which amounts to a 20 per cent hike, it will be in violation of the association’s mandate as it is prohibited by law to increase its fares by more than 10 per cent at a time.”There have been several fuel increases but our fares have remained constant for a very long, long time,” Malima said.He said the last time the association had increased its fares was in 2001.Ordinary consumers are always hardest hit by the surge in fuel prices because of the resultant higher transport costs lead to escalations of food prices.While noting that the imminent fuel increases were unavoidable, the Director of the Namibian Consumer Lobby, Bob Ziekenoppasser, yesterday charged that local businesses were always quick to pass every financial burden onto consumers.”If there is a decrease in fuel price it’s never reflected in the prices of goods.Once up there it [price] always stays there, it never comes down,” the consumer lobbyist said.Ziekenoppasser also accused some businesses of allegedly cheating their consumers by always calculating fuel increases into the prices of their commodities even before the actual fuel increases came into effect.”We are definitely going to increase.At the moment we propose to increase from the current N$5,00 (per trip) to N$6,00 but Nabta still needs to get [the] approval of 51 per cent of its members,” Malima said.He said a final decision would be taken at a general meeting of Nabta members on Sunday.According to Malima, long-distance transport operators had not yet indicated to Nabta whether they would adjust their fares.The Minister of Mines and Energy, Dr Nickey Iyambo, last week announced an increase in the prices of petrol and diesel, the second in three months.With the new increase Namibians will, for the first time, have to pay more than N$4,00 for a litre of fuel.With the new increases, which come into effect at midnight, the pump prices of leaded petrol and unleaded petrol go up by 29 cents a litre while diesel increases by 28 cents per litre.In April the price of leaded and unleaded petrol jumped by 20 cents a litre while that of diesel went up by 17 cents a litre.Government attributes the sharp fuel price increases to the rise in the import parity price as a result of fluctuations in international crude oil prices.Should Nabta members vote to increase taxi fares by N$1 – which amounts to a 20 per cent hike, it will be in violation of the association’s mandate as it is prohibited by law to increase its fares by more than 10 per cent at a time.”There have been several fuel increases but our fares have remained constant for a very long, long time,” Malima said.He said the last time the association had increased its fares was in 2001.Ordinary consumers are always hardest hit by the surge in fuel prices because of the resultant higher transport costs lead to escalations of food prices.While noting that the imminent fuel increases were unavoidable, the Director of the Namibian Consumer Lobby, Bob Ziekenoppasser, yesterday charged that local businesses were always quick to pass every financial burden onto consumers.”If there is a decrease in fuel price it’s never reflected in the prices of goods.Once up there it [price] always stays there, it never comes down,” the consumer lobbyist said.Ziekenoppasser also accused some businesses of allegedly cheating their consumers by always calculating fuel increases into the prices of their commodities even before the actual fuel increases came into effect.