www射-国产免费一级-欧美福利-亚洲成人福利-成人一区在线观看-亚州成人

New fare adjustment mechanism sees some improvement

Updated: 2013-04-18 05:26

By Raymond So(HK Edition)

  Print Mail Large Medium  Small 分享按鈕 0

On Tuesday, the government and the MTR Corporation (MTRC) announced an agreement on a new Fare Adjustment Mechanism (FAM) which allows a 2.7 percent raise in fares this year, down from the 3.2 percent based on the old FAM. Apart from this lower increase in fare, its future adjustment will be kept in line with the increase in median salaries of the people. Further, there are penalty charges on poor MTR performance. This new FAM already takes into account some of the people's major concerns, and clearly this is an improvement.

There have been many criticisms of the MTR and FAM. The most commonly cited one is that the MTR always increases its fare despite earning handsome profits year after year. This behavior is often described as showing a lack of corporate social responsibility by many of the city's opinion leaders. There is no doubt the MTR is a profitable company. However, saying the MTR has excess profits is not without controversy. When we consider the amount of investment made by the MTR, the profit figures reported by the company are not particularly attractive. In terms of return, the MTR is comparable to other major companies in Hong Kong.

Nevertheless, it is true that in terms of absolute magnitude, the profit made by the MTR is huge. Clearly people do not view the MTR as a normal company. If they did, they will evaluate it according to its profitability and not just look at the absolute figure. To many people, the MTR is a public company. Because of this perception, it is expected to do more than a listed company.

New fare adjustment mechanism sees some improvement

One of the expectations is the provision of high quality yet lower train fares. MTR fares are low by international standards, however. Even though the original FAM is legally binding, and the government and the MTR have to accept the fare adjustment according to the FAM, people still criticize the MTR for being a greedy organization. In short, the MTR will be accused of lacking corporate social responsibility no matter what it does. Clearly this is unfair to the company. The problem is the original FAM does not take the affordability of people into account. When people's salary increases are below the rate of inflation, the original FAM allowed train fares to be increased higher than the general salary increase. This is the fundamental problem with the FAM.

According to the new FAM, the MTR still allows a direct drive approach in its fare adjustment. Now the adjustment percentage - or increase in fare - cannot be higher than the percentage of median income increase of the people. This is a smart move. We all understand that we now live in a period of rising prices. If we ask the MTR to keep prices intact or even to reduce its fares, it is not reasonable. However, installing a cap on the increase, and making this cap smaller than the rise of people's salary, will win support from many people. The outcome is simple: if the general public does not get a salary increase, the FAM will prohibit the MTR from increasing its fare. People will be more likely to accept this fare adjustment approach.

To the MTR, the new FAM is a victory. The general public has criticized the MTR for years over its profitability and corporate social responsibility. The MTR fully understands that it cannot keep the FAM intact. Some concessions are inevitable. The worst nightmare for the MTR is that any fare adjustment needs approval from lawmakers. With a modified direct drive approach to fare adjustment, the MTR is guaranteed a stable fare adjustment for another five years. Although the new FAM makes the MTR earn less than the original one, the new one is a better outcome for the MTR. If we judge from the perspective of the MTR being a listed company, the new FAM can help reduce future uncertainties in its fare adjustment. Also, concessions given by the MTR are not big ones. By giving up small concessions in exchange for a more stable operating environment, the MTR is indeed getting a positive outcome in negotiations.

Although the new FAM seems acceptable, it has not touched the fundamental issue of the positioning of the MTR. The MTR will continue to earn huge profits. The MTR will continue to increase its fare, but the increase will be lower. People will still complain about a profitable company trying to squeeze every cent out of people's pockets. In short, the old problem still exists. It is only a matter of time before this problem surfaces again in the headlines of newspapers.

The author is dean of the School of Business at Hang Seng Management College.

(HK Edition 04/18/2013 page9)

主站蜘蛛池模板: 国产在线极品 | 日产一一到六区网站免费 | 亚洲七七久久精品中文国产 | 欧美1区二区三区公司 | 特大一级aaaaa毛片 | 国产激情一区二区三区 | 久久福利资源国产精品999 | 亚洲国产精品久久久久久 | 国产精品久久久久久久 | 飘花国产午夜精品不卡 | 久久99亚洲精品久久99 | 成年女人免费视频 | 国产精品久久久久久久久久免费 | www.日本在线 | 成人影院久久久久久影院 | 久久只有精品视频 | 怡红院视频在线 | 在线观看偷拍视频一区 | 国产一区二区亚洲精品 | 另类一区二区三区 | 国产理论视频在线观看 | 综合图片亚洲网友自拍10p | 欧美一级免费看 | 97香蕉久久夜色精品国产 | 精品欧美亚洲韩国日本久久 | 99精品视频在线观看免费播放 | 二级毛片在线播放 | 美女黄色在线观看 | 国产精品漂亮美女在线观看 | 福利云 | 国产亚洲男人的天堂在线观看 | 国产成人高清亚洲一区91 | 国产精品久久久久久小说 | 亚洲精品久久久久综合91 | 欧美日韩在线视频不卡一区二区三区 | 美女一级ba大片免色野外 | 日本亚洲视频 | 国产伦精品一区二区三区网站 | 日韩中文精品亚洲第三区 | 毛片基地免费视频a | 99精品在线|