A hike in school bus fares next year is not confirmed as there is no way to regulate fares for school buses, Federation of Malaysian School Bus Operators Association (PPPBSM) president Amali Munif Rahman said today.

This is because the fares are set based on direct negotiations between the bus operators and the parents, Amali said.

"A fare hike can't be regulated. Even the Land Public Transport Commission (Spad) can't control it as they have given the freedom to the operators. The association can't interfere either," he told Malaysiakini .

Amali said there are operators who want to increase fares because of increased costs due to the goods and services tax (GST) as well as the ringgit depreciation, which makes getting spare parts from overseas more expensive.

He can't confirm how many operators want to increase their fares next year, but he hopes that PPPBSM's 10,000 members would be kind enough not to do so.

"There are those who want to increase fares, there are those who don't. Our suggestion to members is, if possible, that it would be better not to increase it as the parents are already burdened with so many costs," Amali said.

Yesterday a report quoting Amali had said that school bus fares would go up next year due to the GST's effect on operating and maintenance costs.

Many Malaysians are feeling the pinch after the six percent GST was implemented in April.

The price of goods are also on the rise as the ringgit suffers its worst depreciation since the 1997 Asian financial crisis.