School Van Fares Rise by Up to 40% in Islamabad and Rawalpindi

School van fares in Islamabad and Rawalpindi have risen by up to 40% after the recent rise in petrol prices, adding fresh pressure to household budgets already stretched by the cost of living. Parents say van owners are demanding an extra Rs2,000 to Rs4,000 a month, with no regulator to challenge.

The increase has landed at the start of the school term, when families have little choice but to pay. For many parents, the school van is not optional. It is the only practical way to get children to school and back each day, and that leaves them with almost no room to negotiate.

What parents say they are being charged

Parents told APP that van owners raised fares without any regulatory oversight, even though many schools sit only three to five kilometres from students’ homes. Sidra, a mother of two, said her children’s van driver raised the monthly fare from Rs6,000 to Rs8,000 for the trip from G-10 to a school in F-7, a journey that takes around 10 minutes.

That single example shows the scale of the rise in plain terms. A fare of Rs6,000 became Rs8,000, an increase of one third, for a short daily route. Parents across the twin cities report increases in the same range, between Rs2,000 and Rs4,000 a month per child. For a family with two or three children using the same van, the extra cost runs into thousands of rupees every month.

Parents also raised two older complaints that the fare rise has brought back into focus. They said operators continued to collect full transport fees during summer and winter vacations, when vans were not running. They also pointed to the government’s petrol subsidy for vehicles with engines up to 800cc, and asked why that relief had not held fares down.

What van operators say in reply

Van owners defended the increases and pointed to costs on their side of the ledger. One operator said higher petrol and CNG prices, vehicle maintenance costs and traffic fines had made it hard to run vans at previous rates. Fuel, driver salaries and the commissions van owners pay to schools all have to be covered from the fare, the operator said, and parents overlooked those costs when they judged operators’ earnings.

The same operator put the increase lower than parents claimed, saying fares had risen by only Rs1,500 a month, and called that rise justified. That gap matters. Parents speak of Rs2,000 to Rs4,000 extra, while at least one operator speaks of Rs1,500. The difference suggests fares vary widely by route, vehicle and operator, and that no single figure covers the whole twin-city market.

Why there is no one to settle the dispute

The core problem in the report is not only the size of the increase. It is the absence of a clear authority to settle it. Parents said they had no authority to challenge the charges, and the report carried no response from a transport regulator or district administration setting a fare limit or a complaint process.

That leaves the dispute where it started, between parents who must pay and operators who say their costs have risen. Petrol prices feed directly into van running costs, so any further fuel price change is likely to reopen the same argument. Until a fare framework or a complaint route is published, families in Islamabad and Rawalpindi will keep negotiating route by route, van by van.

Frequently asked questions

By how much have school van fares risen in Islamabad and Rawalpindi?

By up to 40%, according to parents. They report extra charges of Rs2,000 to Rs4,000 a month, while one operator put the rise at Rs1,500.

What triggered the increase?

Van operators link it to higher petrol and CNG prices, along with maintenance costs and traffic fines.

What example did parents give?

Sidra, a mother of two, said the fare for her children’s G-10 to F-7 route rose from Rs6,000 to Rs8,000 a month, for a journey of around 10 minutes.

Is there a regulator parents can complain to?

The report does not name a fare regulator or complaint process, and parents said they had no authority to challenge the charges.

Do parents still pay during school holidays?

Parents said operators continued to collect full transport fees during summer and winter vacations.