RAWALPINDI: The transporters of the twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Wednesday demanded 100 per cent increase in the fares of public transport.

The Twin Cities Transporters Association (TCTA) delegation led by its chairman Malik Sultan Awan met with District Coordination Officer (DCO) Saqib Zafar and presented their demands.

After the meeting, TCTA Chairman Malik Sultan Awan told Dawn that if the government did not increase the fares they would not bring their vehicles on road.

“It is difficult to run the transport in this situation. The prevailing fare of Rs13 per stop was fixed when we had been running our vehicles on CNG,” he said.

Now the transporters are facing problems to manage their budget as the petrol is proving expensive, he said. “The government has turned a blind eye towards the transporters problems,” he said.

When contacted, District Coordination Officer (DCO) Saqib Zafar said that the transporters were demanding 100 per cent increase, but the fares were fixed by the Punjab Transport Authority.

“We will not allow the transporters to increase the fares on their own,” he said.—A Reporter