Kigali — RWANDA Utility Regulatory Agency (RURA) the institution charged with regulating public utilities has announced an increment in taxi fares within the city center.

Passengers will pay an extra Rwf50 for most of the routes in the city during rush hour (5:00 pm - 8:00 am the following morning) with immediate effect.

"The increase in fares was triggered off by the fact that during rush hour, commuter taxis ferry people from the city to suburbs but on their return they are empty hence making a loss," said Twahirwa Dodo, the President of the taxi commuters association (ATRACO) in a statement issued on Wednesday.

The new taxi tariff outlook shows that commuters from the city center to Nyamirambo will pay Rwf150 up from Rwf120.

From the city centre to Kacyiru, passengers will pay Rwf230 from Rwf180, to Gikondo Rwf200 from Rwf150. This represents an average increase of Rwf50.

While the upcountry tariffs remain unchanged, the Atraco boss says that they are still considering the hike and discussions are on with relevant stakeholders.

According to a communiqué from RURA, the hike was intended for the investors in the transport business to extend better services to the city dwellers.

Though fuel prices have remained stable, Atraco argues that the increase has been long over due, since fuel prices have been increased thrice in the recent past, with associations not allowed to hike the fares.

Recently, prices increased from Rwf918 to Rwf940 for both petrol and diesel per liter.

The increase was attributed to the hike of a barrel of crude oil on the international market from $70 (Rwf40, 880) to $89 (Rwf51, 709).