Transport operators in HCM City are cutting fares back again as fuel prices fall after hiking them when petrol prices increased earlier this year. – Photo sggp.org.vn

HCM CITY – Passenger transport operators in HCM City are gradually reducing prices as fuel prices continue to fall.

Saigon Railway Transport JSC was quoted by Sài Gòn Giải Phóng newspaper as saying that it has reduced train fares by up to 5 per cent.

After students return to school in September, it plans to cut them further.

Four bus companies operating out of the Western Bus Station in Bình Tân District have sought to lower their fares by 6-12 per cent, while one operator at Bình Thạnh District’s Eastern Bus Station wants to cut its HCM City – Tuy Hòa Province fare by 4 per cent.

According to the city Department of Transport, operators wanting to decrease fares by more than 3 per cent have to get its approval. Taxi companies are also looking at decreasing fares.

Vietnam Airlines and Pacific Airlines are offering promotions and discounts until the end of the year.

Fuel prices skyrocketed earlier this year due to geo-political issues, peaking in June, leading to most transporters increasing fares.

In July oil prices began to fall, and Vietnamese authorities also slashed the environment tax on fuel, but fares did not begin to fall immediately.

Trần Bảo Ngọc, head of the Ministry of Transport's transportation department, said last week that though fare cuts took time due to administrative procedures, many firms also used this as an excuse to delay cuts.

"Firms should not react too slowly to falling fuel prices. Fuel takes up 30-40 per cent of their costs, and its prices have plunged, and so any further delay in fare cuts is unacceptable." – VNS