By JOHNSON KANAMUGIRE

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Commuters in the country brace for yet another hike in fares after commercial motorcyclists were slapped with by 181.2 percent insurance premiums increment, a cost that will be passed on to travellers.

The annual insurance cover for all motorcyclists in the market increased fourfold to as high as Rwf180,000 compared to Rwf64,000 early this year, as insurance firms decried the high expenses incurred while compensating victims of accidents.

Rwanda Today established that many insurance firms hiked the premiums to over Rwf200,000 between January and June on account of “losses that could soon necessitate abandoning cover for the arket segment altogether.”

This, according to operators, is proving to be a risk for thousands employed in the commercial transport across the country as it has distorted the market at a time when even operational costs like fuel, licence fees and others have kept on the rise.

“It has already kicked many out of business considering that the increment came at a time members were coming out of lockdowns, faced reduced working hours, the high cost for fuel and other operational costs, yet commuters are not in the position to pay more for our services. We have advised those who can’t pay to park their fleet as we seek government intervention into the matter,” argued Daniel Ngarambe, head of FERWACOTAMO, the largest cooperative of motorcyclists.

“Much as we agree that motors are responsible for accidents, we don’t see any justification to hike premiums by over Rw100,000 in a matter of months. It is a problem that needs to be investigated by regulators and those in charge of consumer protection.”

Rwanda Today learnt that much as operators had sought help from government agencies that include the transport regulator, the Rwanda cooperative agency and the traffic police to attend to their grievances, nothing appeared to change as insurance firms are adamant to make any change to their tariffs.