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• Private firm says bus operations to be suspended from 11th as talks with authorities fail

• Punjab Mass Transit Authority calls move ‘blackmail’, vows to challenge court order against it

LAHORE: A private firm operating the Lahore Metro Bus on the 27km Gajjumata-Shahdra route has decided to suspend its operations from Aug 11 after talks with the Punjab Mass Transit Authority (PMA) over rising fuel costs and other issues failed to yield a solution.

As the company has served a final notice on the PMA, the authority has termed the move an attempt to blackmail and pressure the government into accepting its demands. It said it would challenge the court verdict against it and invoke a clause in the contract that provides for the appointment of arbitrators by both parties to settle any dispute.