After months of threats of strike by bus owners and counter threats of legal action by the State Government over fare hike, the government has finally agreed to increase the fare by Re. 1 per stage here on Monday.
The decision was taken after a meeting of Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee with representatives of six bus owners’ organisations. The last time bus fare was hiked in the State by Re.1 per stage in November, 2012.
The minimum fare on common private buses at present is Rs. 5 per 4km. This will be hiked by Rs. 1 per stage. In this case, the minimum distance of 4 km is regarded as a ‘stage’.
But after 16 km, the fare will increase by Rs.2 per 4 km.
But in case of minibuses and buses bought under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission (JNNURM), the fare will be hiked by Re.1 per 3km. In case of minibuses and JNNURM buses, each stage consists of a stretch of 3 km.
“We are expecting that the fare hike will be implemented on September 1,” joint secretary of Joint Council of Bus Syndicate Tapan Banerjee told The Hindu .
State Transport Secretary Alapan Bandyopadhyay said the government would set up a task force to regulate bus fares in proportion to the change in diesel price. “The task force will be set up as soon as possible,” he added.
Education Minister Partha Chatterjee said bus owners urged the government to hike fares as diesel price had increased several times over the years.
“But we also have to consider that in the present economic situation how much pressure can people take,” he added. Pointing out that the Centre had hiked diesel prices several times in the past, the Minister said that it had to understand the impact of such decisions on people.
Dipak Sarkar, vice president of the Bengal Bus Syndicate, however, said bus owners “are not happy with the fare hike”. At present the bus owners are suffering an annual loss of Rs.3.5 lakh per bus, he said.
