Six Legislative Council members urged the government to ease fuel costs for transport businesses at a meeting with Secretary for Environment and Ecology Tse Chin-wan on October 28.
They proposed restarting fuel subsidies, relief on commercial-vehicle tunnel fees, waiving commercial-vehicle and vessel licence fees for one year, and setting up a fuel-price stabilisation fund. The lawmakers said Tse understood and sympathised with the industry’s difficulties, and that the government would study and consider their suggestions.
Four franchised bus companies had applied for fare increases ranging from 8.1% to 17.7%.
Lawmaker Lothair Lam Ming-fung, citing ferry operators, said their diesel procurement price had risen from US$82 a barrel early in the year to a peak of US$200 in mid-September.
Lawmaker Chong Ho Fung raised concerns about a lack of transparency in vehicle-fuel prices and suspected collusion, saying inconsistent prices made it difficult for the public and businesses to compare costs. He called for fuel-price information to be published transparently and for the government to establish strict price monitoring. He also urged the government to speed up giving the Competition Commission powers to seek information from companies suspected of collusion.
A lawmaker representing the Election Committee constituency said school-bus and tour-bus operators were constrained by existing contracts and could not easily raise fares. He proposed helping them find other operating opportunities to ease the impact of higher fuel costs.