Its president, Amali Munif Rahmat, said the government needs to take heed of their plight, though they are mainly small firms, as they are seeing rising costs despite receiving diesel subsidies.

“If the government simply warns us (not to hike school bus fees), that’s not helpful at all. The price of diesel has not gone up, but the prices of other things have increased and we need to bear those additional costs,” he told FMT.

Amali said it now costs more to buy imported spare parts for school buses, partly because of the weakening ringgit, while the raising of the minimum wage to RM1,700 from February could add to their operational costs.

He said these were factors outside of their control and they did not want to raise their fees just for the sake of making more profits.

“We have to use imported parts because they are cheaper than what are available in the local market. For example, tyres from China are half the price of locally made tyres,” he said.

He said any potential school bus fee increase was dependent on each operator’s financial standing.

The government has maintained the price of diesel to RM1.88 per litre for school bus operators since 2017. Currently, the retail price of diesel in West Malaysia is RM2.98 per litre, and RM2.15 in East Malaysia.

Last month, Sinar Harian quoted Pertubuhan Kebajikan Industri Bas Sekolah Malaysia as saying school bus fees were expected to go up by between 25% and 30% for the next school session starting in February.

It cited more expensive spare parts, the minimum wage hike, as well as competition with unregistered transportation services for students.