KUALA LUMPUR: Parents may face additional financial burden next year as school bus operators look to hike their fares to cope with the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
Federation of Malaysian School Bus Operators Associations president Amali Munif Rahmat told the New Straits Times yesterday said with the introduction of GST, operational costs had increased.
“Even something as small as a screw, which a bus needs a lot of, is not being spared by GST, what more the entire operation cost,” he said.
Amali, however, could not determine how much the new school bus fares would be, as the price would set by the individual operators or companies.
“The operators need to discuss and negotiate with the students’ parents, and the negotiations could differ from one group to another.
“School bus fares differ, just like your telecommunications packages. If you want bigger and better services, you have to pay more,” he said.
Amali said besides operational costs, school bus fares depended on several other factors, including the area in which the bus operated.
Students may live far from their schools, or the area may have heavy traffic, or the route does not allow U-turns, therefore, buses could not make short cuts, among others.
The financial status of the people in the area is also taken into consideration.
The current bus fare is around RM100 a month, but the fees could go higher if the bus has air conditioning and other facilities.
“That is where our customers’ income play a role. Those who can afford more will demand more comfort for their children,” Amali said.
With 35 bus associations under the federation, Amali said since January this year, school bus fees were no longer controlled by the government.
“The Land Public Transport Commission (SPAD) made the announcement in October last year.
“They have left it up to the federation to negotiate and determine school bus fares.”
However, a more pressing issue, according to Amali, was the shortage of licensed school buses, as almost 3,000 buses had left the market.
Since 2010, there are only 18,000 licensed school buses operating nationwide.
“Around 50 per cent of those buses are not even ferrying school students, but are chartered by universities and colleges, so the shortage is being filled by illegal or unlicensed school buses and vans,” Amali said, adding that on average, only one bus waiting at a school was licensed, while five others were not.
He said the illegal buses were not necessarily the “bad guys”, adding that most started out legal, but as buses over 30 years old were not allowed to renew their licences and the operators could not afford new buses, they had no choice but to continue operating, albeit illegally.