Fares of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses were hiked by around 7.96 per cent from Saturday midnight.
A day after Transport Minister R. Ramalinga Reddy told reporters that a hike in KSRTC bus fares was inevitable, the corporation announced the hike to “off-set the increase in financial burden” arising from the rise in fuel prices and increase in dearness allowance to its employees.
Diesel price hike
In a statement here, the KSRTC said the financial burden on the corporation due to the hike in diesel price was Rs. 105.05 crore a year and increase in dearness allowance to its employees amounted to Rs. 102.77 crore a year.
The KSRTC expects to garner additional revenue of Rs. 123.87 crore from the fare hike. The deficit of Rs. 83.95 crore a year would be mobilised by improving efficiency of operation, the statement said.
The North-Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation and North-Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation fares had also been hiked.
The increase in ordinary bus fares is, however, limited to only 7.66 per cent to reduce the burden on rural passengers, the statement said.
Volvo buses exempted The premium Volvo and Rajahamsa bus services have been exempted from the hike, a KSRTC official said.
“The fares of Volvo and Rajahamsa bus services are increased seasonally depending on demand. Their fares were revised in April for the peak summer season. The fares for these two services are dynamic, as they are different on weekdays and weekends,” the official added.
