Tunisian authorities began on Sunday implementing revised tariffs on non-state transportation after approving an increase in fuel prices last month.
Non-state public transport includes privately-owned taxis, mass taxi, tourist taxi, and private public inter-provincial transport and rural transport services.
New tariffs saw an overall increase of 13 percent.
The recent increase in tariffs was among the basic demands made to the Ministry of Transport to cover recent increases in fuel prices and the high cost of spare parts, most of which come from outside Tunisia.
Tunisia’s Ministry of Industry, Energy and Mines announced last month an increase in fuel prices for the third time in 2018.
Adel Arafa, Vice President of the National Chamber for Individual and Group Taxi Owners, said the increases were necessary to cover the added expenses incurred by owners of taxis.
He pointed out that this demand is not only linked to an increase in fuel prices, but also to the various increases witnessed in overall commodities in Tunisia.
More than one Tunisian economist and a number of financial institutions have predicted such increases since the Tunisian government announced its intention to apply a review every three months on fuel prices, according to an agreement struck between Tunisia and the International Monetary Fund.
“These increases in transport prices and a number of other economic activities have been expected for a while now, but they have been delayed for some time,” Tunisian economist Mourad Balkhalla said.
He predicted that a number of other government institutions would consequentially announce increases in rates of goods and services, which include electricity, gas, water and public transport.
Meanwhile, the Tunisian Company of Electricity and Gas (STEG) did not rule out the possibility of an increase in electricity and gas prices over the next few days.
These increases would not include poor and middle-income families, but were mainly aimed at those who consume more than 150 kilowatts per month, usually high-income families.
