Transport Minister Mohamed Ameen has stated that to provide the high-speed RTL Ferry Services in a sustainable manner, the government must consider hiking the ticket prices.

Replying to a question raised by a member of the Economic Committee of the Parliament today, the minister said the government spends a hefty amount in subsidies to keep the ticket prices low. He however stressed that this could not continue on the long-term, adding that the government needs to curb the spend on subisidies for the service.

The Minister highlighted that the RTL Ferry Service is widely supported by the general public, adding that it should be made more sustainable than it currently is.

The government spent M VR 48 million on subsidies in the first year of the RTL Ferry Service, compared to MVR 130 million last year. By the end of this year, the figure will rise to MVR 280 million, he said.

Therefore, the state cannot continue prov iding these subsidies in the current model, he said.

“It is 20 percent recovery, 80 percent subsidy, which means MVR 1 billion will go to subsidy,” he said.

The Minister said it has been decided to reduce the subsidy level to 55 percent, and recovery level to 40 percent.

Ameen said he would submit the matter to the Economic Council to fix the prices of RTL services. Earlier, the prices were fixed by the Economic Council during the MDP government, he said.