The Executive Power resolved to increase the value of the contribution to the ticket trust by $1.5 for each liter of diesel sold in the country.
The ticket escrow Its sole source of funding is diesel consumption through the application of a premium per liter. Until December of last year it was $3,484 and now it has gone to $4,984that is, 8.5% of the retail value of diesel 50-S ($58.99).
Why was this decision made? The Under Secretary for Industry, Energy and Mining, Walter Verri, told The Observer that the value of the trust of $3.48 per liter had been in force since 2018. In turn, a previous government decree established that the trust would be adjusted periodically as fuel prices adjusted.
Those corrections were not made by decision of the current government. This implied a gap between income and expenses that up to now was covered with general revenue resources.
“That trust fund spent more because the price of fuel increased, but collected less because it had not been adjusted. In 2023 the deficit was going to be very large to take out of general revenue, around $50 million. Then $1.5 was adjusted”, affirmed the head of Industry.
The modification was included in the latest calculation of the Import Parity Price (PPI) that the Executive Branch later used to decide a drop of $6 per liter of diesel at the pump. In other words, if the contribution to the trust had not been adjusted upwards, the price of that fuel had a margin to drop $7.5 per liter in January.
“(…) It is understood pertinent to adjust the value of the trust capital in such a way that the trust has sufficient capital to sustain policies aimed at the sector of regular collective passenger transport services., says the decree signed by President Luis Lacalle Pou.
On the other hand, Verri pointed out that changes to ticket escrow “are being processed” and will be announced soon. “I cannot anticipate, but work has been done with the Ministry of Economy, OPP and the Ministry of Transport. Basically The changes go for a renewal of the fleet towards electricity and for a change in the way of paying that subsidy”, he said.
At the end of 2020, the commission of experts in charge of carrying out a comprehensive review of the fuel market had made some recommendations to the Executive Power that put the magnifying glass on the ticket trust.
“The trust must be maintained because urban transportation requires a subsidy, but there may be changes,” Verri said.
How does it work
The trust was created in 2006 to subsidize the price of collective passenger transport tickets throughout the country and thus encourage their use. The National Development Corporation (CND) receives the funds from Ancap every month and the trust pays the transport companies (urban, suburban, short, medium distance, long distance and departmental) based on the declared diesel consumption, and the values per liter, type of service and the defined limits of consumption per kilometer traveled established by the MTOP, which acts as regulator.
