Rwanda Utilities and Regulatory Agency (RURA) last week started an assessment into public transport fares with a view to revise them.

According to Benjamin Rutimirwa, the director of economic regulation at RURA, the assessment is in line with the fluctuating fuel prices in the country.

Rutimirwa said their study is mainly focusing on diesel because it is used by almost all vehicles in public transport.

The current transport fares were set on November 1, 2015, following a comprehensive study by the regulator to ensure that the investors recoup their investments and also get some profit, and at the same time protect the commuters.

At the time, fare for public buses increased by two francs to Rwf20 per kilometre on Kigali city routes and to Rwf19 from Rwf18 per kilometre on upcountry routes.

In November 2015, a litre of diesel stood at Rwf888 and has since gone up to 994.

The assessment is being carried out by a team of people from RURA and includes representatives from other stakeholder organisations including consumer protection body, the private sector and other public institutions.

Rutimirwa explained that, after the assessment, the stakeholders will come together to discuss the findings to see if the transport fares can be increased or remained unchanged.

"We are assessing the situation to see if the fares can be increased or remain unchanged. The results will give us what to do. We are collecting data by analysing whether the investors incur losses following the increase of fuel,” he said.

Col (Rtd) Ludovic Dodo Twahirwa, the chairperson of Rwanda Federation of Transport Cooperatives (RFTC), said there is need to increase the fare not just because of the increase in fuel prices but other factors too.

"For instance, we also increased the salaries for our employees,” Twahirwa said.

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