The Puducherry Government has hiked the fare of buses operating on the inter-state (Puducherry to Tamil Nadu) by more than 50%. The revised fares came into effect on Monday night and is said to be a direct sequel to the steep hike in bus fares by the Tamil Nadu Government.
While the fare on a mofussil bus from Puducherry to Tindivanam has been hiked from ₹18 to ₹27, the fare from Puducherry to Villupuram has been hiked by ₹10 from ₹18 to ₹28. The revision in ultra deluxe bus from Puducherry to Nagercoil has been hiked from ₹415 to ₹655 while the fare for express service from Puducherry to Bengaluru has been increased from ₹215 to ₹290.
The fare from Puducherry to Chennai (By-Pass) air-conditioned bus has been hiked from ₹200 to ₹305 while the fare on Puducherry to Chennai (East Coast Road) air-conditioned has been hiked from ₹.210 to ₹.315. The fares have also been hiked on the inter-state route buses operating from Karaikal, an enclave of the Union Territory to Chennai.
A senior official of the Transport Department pointed out that the inter-state agreement inked between Puducherry and Tamil Nadu Governments long ago had impacted the automatic revision of bus fare for the commuters in Puducherry. “The situation is helpless and we cannot have any say since Puducherry is bound by the inter-state agreement in fixing the bus fare,” he said.
For instance, a passenger travelling from Velankanni to Chennai will be bound by the rate followed by the Tamil Nadu Government and will have to pay the fare fixed by the Puducherry Government for the areas falling under the Union Territory limits.
This implies that fleet operators have to maintain different schedules for services passing through Puducherry. Commuters are automatically governed by the fare of the Tamil Nadu Government as per the inter-state agreement in the State.
“However, the status quo continues as far as the fare for intra state bus services are concerned. We attempted to raise the fares. However, it was kept in abeyance following protests and a committee was constituted to go into the revision,” the official added.
