KUALA LUMPUR, May 16 — The government will not allow any public transport operators to increase their fares for now, as fuel prices are still too low.

Senior Minister (Security Cluster) Datuk Seri Ismail Sabri Yaakob said that a special ministers’ meeting today made the decision after hearing complaints about hikes in the price of ferry tickets in Langkawi.

“There were also complaints that ferry fares to Langkawi from Kuala Kedah and Kuala Perlis had been raised by RM10.

“The meeting also decided not to allow airline carriers to raise fares at this time due to lower oil prices.

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“We understand that they are suffering losses because they are only allowed to carry half their usual capacity, but the losses should be offset by the low fuel prices,” he told his daily press conference in Putrajaya today.

Ismail Sabri then chided businesses for seemingly always being in a rush to raise prices every time fuel prices go up, yet appearing to do nothing when oil prices go down.

“Normally, when fuel prices are high, fares go up. But when fuel prices go down, fares don’t go down.

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“We see the same thing with other products. When fuel prices go up, everyone rushes to increase prices, but when fuel prices go down, no one wants to reduce prices,” he said.

Public transportation by land and sea in Malaysia are now required to operate at half capacity in adherence to social distancing guidelines amid the Covid-19 pandemic.