RAWALPINDI: Private transport operators got their wish when the CNG filling stations resumed uninterrupted operations from Wednesday, but they disappointed many by not sharing the benefit with their passengers.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had shared the popular hope that they would reduce fares and transport charges after the rationing of the cheap gas fuel at the filling stations is lifted, but lust for profit seems to have prevailed over them.

In January 2013, the Punjab government had allowed bus operators to charge higher fares on Rawalpindi-Islamabad route, in the wake of a decision to limit the supply of gas to different industrial users, for certain days of the week.

More than 150,000 low income citizens commute daily between the two cities, according to the Rs44.1 billion Metro Bus Project, which the Punjab government and the federal government inaugurated, last month.

Since the increase in the fares was linked to the costlier petrol and diesel fuel, it was expected of the operators to feel obliged to lower them after the cheaper CNG, once again, became freely available.

“Government policies and decisions should have a trickle down effect for the common man too,” the premiere added.

Regional Transport Authority Secretary Awais Manzoor Tarar agreed that fares should be reduced. However, the decision lies with the Punjab Transport Authority, according to him.

“We simply recommend,” he said.

However, the transporters feel otherwise. “It would be unjust to reduce the fares. After all, CNG price has increased also for the transporters, over last two years,” noted a transporter, Mohammad Ammar.

“We suffered the CNG rationing a lot during the past year and reducing the current fares would worsen the situation for us,” he told Dawn.

Though, run on gas, like the entire fleet of private buses and vans, taxis never cared for the government-fixed fare and charged to their liking.

“It appears the interests of investors are dearer to the government, than the interests of the common man. Owners of the CNG filling stations raised hue and cry about their investment and the government found ways to satisfy them,” observed Anayat Shah, a resident of Shamsabad, Rawalpindi.

Traveling to his workplace in Saddar costs him Rs44 daily, and his son, who works in Islamabad, Rs54.

“Nearly one-fourth of my monthly income, of Rs15,000, is spent on traveling, leaving Rs11,000 to feed my family, pay the utility bills and educate my three children,” Muhammad Akram, a government employee, said.

“My wife works as a seamstress to make extra money. But for her, it would be difficult to make both ends meet,” he said.

Saeed Raja, waiting at Liaquat Bagh to catch a bus, however, was worrying about life next year.

“Before the metro bus is launched in 2015, we will be paying higher fares for a year. It is very unfair,” he said.