The Hindu : New Delhi News : Bus fare revision put off

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 12, 2004

New Delhi

New Delhi

Bus fare revision put off

By Our Staff Reporter

NEW DELHI, DEC 11 . Lakhs of commuters across the Capital could now look forward to some relief, although temporary, as the Delhi Government is understood to have put off its plans to "revise and rationalise'' the bus fare structure following the huge public outcry over the sharp increase in water tariffs recently.

According to sources in the Delhi Government, the Cabinet note on the bus fare issue was ready for a decision but it has been decided that such a revision or rationalisation should be put off for the time being in view of the adverse reaction to the water tariff hike.

The matter is understood to have been discussed at the highest level and after giving a serious thought to the whole issue it was decided not to go ahead with this exercise for the present. The loss-making Delhi Transport Corporation had in the last few months taken a number of steps to reduce the losses and largely due to the efforts of its Chairman, Rajiv Talwar, who is also the Secretary (Transport), has been able to save nearly Rs. 10 crores a month. The attempt to rationalise the fare structure was being made to reduce the burden on those who use the public transport to commute within the city in a big way.

Sources informed that under the new revised formula worked out by the DTC, it would end up saving nearly Rs. 50 crores and take a giant leap towards wiping out its losses that have become the order of the day. This despite the fact that there would be no increase in the fares but only rationalisation would be done. At present, commuters are paying 50 paise per km for travel within the city and even fare the revision, only the rate slabs would change and average fare will continue to be around 50 paise per km.

Apart from rationalisation of fares, a total restructuring of the DTC operations is also underway in the Capital. The attempt is to make the public transport not only multi-modal but also efficient and reduce the dependence of people of private transport. It is also proposed to put into operation a large number of air-conditioned coaches on the local routes in the coming days. The Corporation had engaged the services of the Tata Consultancy Services for putting in place a restructuring plan in order to bring out the Corporation from the red.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

New Delhi