Bus fares are likely to increase in order to allow operators to continue to operate sustainably, says the Fijian Competition and Consumer Commission chief executive Joel Abraham.

In a media conference on Thursday, Mr Abraham confirmed they were in the final stages of assessing the cost components of bus companies.

“I can confirm that FCCC has received submissions from bus operators seeking a 60 per cent increase in Stage one fares and 25 per cent to 30 per cent increase in the other stages,” he said.

“We have a stringent bus fare review process that will determine if a change in the bus fare is needed and by how much.

“While the initial submissions were made in December, 2021, not all companies had provided the required information.

“This process, unfortunately, had been delayed due to incomplete submissions from bus companies. These submissions often did not contain the complete information that we needed to make our assessment and as a result, we could not effectively review the bus fare until bus companies gave us the required information.”

Mr Abraham said FCCC was clear on its position that they owe a duty of care to all Fijians to ensure that only legitimate costs are allowed and that any increases are thoroughly scrutinised before approval.

“The FCCC is in the final stages of assessing the cost components and is expecting the completion of this exercise by early May. The bus fares will change but we will do our best to balance the interests of bus companies with those of all travelling Fijians.

“The stark reality is that price or fare increases are likely in order to allow these industries to continue to operate sustainably.”

Mr Abraham said they were engaging in dialogue with bus companies to review their fares to ensure that commuters were not taken advantage of while bus companies still remain ed profitable.

“No one benefits if a bus company goes out of business, but we must always protect the consumers.”