Smitha Jacob had a worried look on her face as she mulled over ways to tweak her monthly budget on the eve of bus fare hike.
Travelling between Ezhupunna in Cherthala, and Vyttila daily, this receptionist in a city studio is anxious over how much more she will have to pay a day for the two-way trip from Tuesday.
She already pays Rs. 15 for one-side journey and that too, after deducting Rs. 3 the private bus operator offered as discount to her for being a regular commuter.
“Commutation costs me close to Rs. 800 a month now. The hike is no doubt going to hurt me,” Ms. Jacob said.
P.M. Aisha engaged in housekeeping jobs in the city is not all happy about the hike in bus fare that is going to make her trip from Nettoor to the city costly. In fact, she is concerned about how to cope if bus fare also goes up frequently with the all round price rise.
Sarasa Raveendran, who commutes by bus daily between Eroor and the Kudumbasree Café at Ponnurunni, felt that a slight increase in daily expenses may not affect those with regular income badly.
“But a rise of even a rupee or two in bus fare will be taxing for people like us with variable income,” said Ms. Raveendran.
M. Abbas, a frequent traveller to various parts of the State in connection with his theatre group at Aluva, is yet to estimate the real impact of the revised fare. “A fare hike is never desirable as it invariably hits the common man. But the other side is that the frequent rise in diesel prices made it almost inevitable,” he said.
Raigan K.J. wondered why the income always remained static while expenses kept on increasing. “A hike is justifiable only when there is proportionate increase in income,” he said.
