There needs to be a mechanism to control transportation fares.
(Baonghean) - In the past 6 months, world oil prices have continuously decreased by 30%, and domestic oil prices have also decreased sharply. At the beginning of July, oil prices increased to a "peak" of 25,440 VND/liter. After 10 consecutive price reductions, the total price reduction amounted to 5,400 VND/liter. Oil prices have decreased to a record low, but transportation costs have not decreased, causing public outrage.
After the Ministry of Finance sent an official dispatch to the Ministry of Transport and the People's Committees of provinces and cities to direct the strengthening of price management in the area, and to inspect and urge the reduction of transportation fares, transportation enterprises have started to reduce prices in small increments. In Ho Chi Minh City, at the end of November, taxi service enterprises declared to reduce fares from 2.7 - 9%, fixed-route passenger transport enterprises declared to reduce fares from 2 - 11.3%. In Hanoi, by the end of November, only 71 transportation enterprises reduced fares, including 52 taxi enterprises, 17 passenger transport enterprises and 2 container transport enterprises. Mai Linh Taxi Company is the pioneer in reducing fares but only reduced fares in Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City from 500 VND - 2,000 VND/km; In Thanh Hoa, Nghe An, Quang Ninh, and the Central Highlands, the price is from 1,000 to 2,000 VND/km. According to the Ministry of Finance, up to now, many automobile transport businesses have not declared the reduction in transportation prices.
Up to now, every time the price of gasoline increases, it is estimated that 80-90% of transportation companies increase their fares. However, when gasoline prices continuously decrease, transportation companies still deliberately do not reduce prices or reduce prices only little by little. When inspected, they give many reasons: declaring price reductions requires many procedures and takes a lot of time; checking and adjusting the fare meter takes a long time (for taxis); calculating price reductions is not only based on fuel prices but also other factors. In fact, the reason for not reducing prices or reducing prices slowly is because transportation companies take advantage of the opportunity to increase profits, thereby causing great damage to the people.
In the face of conflicting views on the situation of gasoline prices decreasing but transportation fares not decreasing or decreasing slowly, the Minister of Finance explained: The cost of transportation fares includes many types (gasoline, vehicle depreciation, repair costs, labor costs, road and parking fees); in which fuel costs for gasoline-powered vehicles account for 25 - 35%, for diesel-powered vehicles account for 35 - 40%. If we only consider the impact of fuel price reduction and fix other factors, the current reduction of 5 - 8% for transportation companies is relatively appropriate. However, the explanation of the Minister of Finance has not yet convinced public opinion.
For many years, there has never been a case of transport companies automatically reducing prices when gasoline prices decrease. There is no sanction forcing businesses to reduce fares when gasoline prices decrease. Therefore, businesses take advantage of the slow price reduction to gain profits. It was not until this gasoline price reduction that the Ministry of Transport officially sent a document requesting localities to have solutions to manage transportation fares adjusted in accordance with fuel prices. Thus, up to now, the control of transportation fares in the market has been considered "floating".
The recent large fluctuations in gasoline prices have exposed the confusion of state management agencies in this field. When gasoline prices decrease but transportation businesses do not reduce prices, how will it be handled? If there is a penalty, which agency has the authority and what is the specific penalty level? Because there are no specific sanctions, when gasoline prices decrease, whether or not transportation fees are reduced and by how much depends on the businesses' initiative, the State cannot control. To overcome this situation, there must be specific regulations. The State must provide a framework for transportation costs, in which a reasonable fuel ratio is calculated for each type of vehicle. On that basis, transportation businesses must reduce fares accordingly when gasoline prices decrease, and when gasoline prices increase, they can only increase fares within the permitted limits. It is necessary to tighten the management of transportation fares with specific sanctions and strict penalties for businesses that do not reduce fares or reduce prices slowly when gasoline prices decrease.
Tran Hong Co
