The Government has doubled the hire fees for commuter omnibuses (kombis) contracted under the Zimbabwe United Passenger Company (ZUPCO) franchise.
This comes after hundreds of transporters withdrew their vehicles from the ZUPCO pool citing meagre fees that were offered by the transport utility and a growing payment backlog.
The Ministry of Finance and Economic Development last week increased hire fees for kombis from $10 000 to $20 300 per day to lure back private players and motivate others to join the franchise.
Negotiations for a review of hire fees for privately-owned buses are ongoing and are expected to be completed this week.
In an interview with State media, Local Government and Public Works Minister July Moyo said:
Last week’s transport challenges were mainly caused by the pulling out of commuter omnibuses under the Zupco franchise.
We have engaged Treasury and they have approved the upward review of the daily hire fees given to the kombis.
So we expect the situation to normalise.