"Sh100 increase on fuel tax should not lead to doubling of transport fares"- Kamulegeya

Jun 14, 2016

In the reading of the national budget, finance minister designate announced a sh100 increment on fuel.

Francis Kamulegeya, a partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers  has said the increase in the tax on fuel in the 2016/2017 national budget should lead to an adverse increase in transport fares across the country.

In the reading of the national budget, finance minister designate announced a sh100 increment on fuel. This means that if you are paying sh3200 for a litre of petrol today, you will be required to pay sh3300 from July 1. If you are paying sh2800 for a litre of diesel today, you will pay sh2900 from July 1.

"Sh100 on a litre of fuel should not translate to the doubling of transport charges and this is where we have to pay our fair share," he said at a post-budget engagement organized by the Uganda Revenue Authority at Hotel Africana on Monday.

 "An additional sh100 on a litre of fuel will translate to around sh93b. That is a lot of money to government in terms of public expenditure, but sh100 for you and me, and those who use public transport may be felt, but it should not translate into the fare from Kiwatule to Kampala increasing from sh1000 to sh1200, neither should the fare between Insingiro and Kampala double," he said.

"We have a duty as Ugandans to play fair even when there are tax increases, and on the other hand, make both the revenue authority and the government of Uganda accountable in terms of where that money is going."

Public transport gurus in Uganda are notorious for their wanton increase in fares.

It is not yet clear how taxi and bus owners will react to the new changes. As of yet, transport fares to and from different suburbs to Kampala have not changed. Will this remain the case next month?

(adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});