NAIROBI, Kenya: July 17 (Xinhua) — Many consumers in Kenya breathed a sigh of relief when fuel prices were slashed by up to Shs. 11 three days ago, but a drop in commuting costs is not in the offing.
Kenya’s Energy Regulatory Commission (ERC) on Saturday announced the biggest price cuts in fuel prices in about a year. The regulator slashed the price of super petrol, regular and diesel by Kshs 8, Kshs 13 and Kshs 7 respectively.
The price of kerosene, which is used by many low-income earners in the East African nation as fuel, was also slashed by Kshs 7.65. Following the cuts, super petrol is now retailing in Nairobi at Kshs. 108.8, regular petrol at Kshs.106.25, diesel Kshs 97.75 and kerosene Kshs 76.50.
“Prices of crude and refined petroleum products in the international market in the last three months have experienced a downward trend. Any further gains arising from the positive changes will be passed on to consumers in subsequent price reviews, ” said ERC in a statement on July 14.
Statistics indicate that in the past one month, the price of refined oil products in the international market fell by 8.01 percent for super petrol, 8.74 percent for diesel and 0.19 percent for kerosene.After lowering fuel prices, ERC asked fuel marketers to pass the gains to consumers, failure to which one will be penalized.
A spot check in the capital Nairobi indicated that most oil marketers have complied. But hopes of paying lower travelling costs for many consumers have been dashed by public transport operators, who have not passed the gains to commuters.
Most operators are still charging higher costs noting that fuel is only a small ingredient in the business. In the capital Nairobi, a survey on Monday showed that commuters are paying charges they used to pay before the fuel price cuts.
On some routes, some commuters are even paying higher fares as public transport operators, popularly known as matatus, strive to increase their profits.On the Rongai route, commuters are paying during peak hours between KShs 70.55 and Kshs 119.
During off- peak hours, the charges drop to Kshs 119.
“Things have not changed for the better since fuel prices were dropped 3 weeks ago,” lamented Christine Bosibori on Monday.
“The fares are still the same and it seems commuters will not enjoy lower costs any time sooner.” Bosibori recounted that when she heard fuel prices have gone down, she was happy hoping that her expenses on fare will reduce.
“I spend at least 2.3 dollars per day on fare, which is too high considering that I also have to eat lunch. My daily expenses when I add lunch comes to about Kshs 297.5. Many times I am forced to skip lunch to cut costs,” she narrated.
On most routes that head to Eastlands area, where about a quarter of Nairobi residents live, things are no different. Commuters are paying at least Kshs 50. during peak hours and Kshs 30 during off-peak hours.
“When I heard that fuel prices have come down, I was happy but I knew they were not going to make my life any better, especially when it comes to commuting,” noted James Tore, who lives in Umoja.
Tore observed that while it is the first time fuel prices have been cut by the biggest margin, ERC has been reducing pump prices often but matatu operators have not been doing the same.
“The problem is that the industry is unregulated and operators have made their own rules, which favor them. They will raise fares as they wish knowing that commuters have no option, but when fuel prices come down, they will not reduce their charges,” said the banker.
Bernard Mogire, who operates a matatu along Kayole route in Nairobi’s eastlands area, noted that they do not drop fares when fuel prices come down because their operating costs are too high.
“Yes, fuel is a key commodity in our business but it is not the only one we use when ferrying people to various destinations. The vehicles have to be serviced, which is frequent because of poor roads and we have to pay our workers,” he said.
“We cannot meet all these expenses satisfactorily and get some profits if we lower fares now and then,” he added. The matatu owner further observed that lowering and raising fares each time prices go down or up will disrupt the industry.
ERC adjusts fuel prices every month. If we peg our fares on its adjustments, we may not do business smoothly since we will keep on changing our charges. We try to set our prices at levels that are not disruptive,” he said adding that sometimes the fares are determined by market forces.
The cost of transport is among the highest for most Nairobi residents since most people depend on public transport vehicles to commute.
With fuel prices having dropped, most consumers in the East African nation expect prices of basic commodities will also come down in the coming days to ease the cost of living since fuel is a key ingredient in production of goods. (Xinhua)
