The government has called the striking private bus operators for talks in Kozhikode on Sunday.
The Statewide indefinite strike by operators has kept the 14,500-odd private buses off the road for the second day on Saturday. Transport Minister A.K. Saseendran will hold talks with office-bearers of the Private Bus Operators’ Confederation at 4 p.m. at the Government Guest House, Kozhikode.
Chairman of the confederation Lawrence Babu said they would attend the talks and press for their demands, including a further increase in the minimum bus fare to ₹10 and a proportionate increase in the concessional bus fares of students.
“Though the strike has affected the travelling public, we see no other way as the minimum fare hike from ₹7 to ₹8 and per km increase by 6 paise to 15 paise proposed from March 1 will put the industry into further crisis,” he said.
Meanwhile, the strike has affected normal life in Kochi, Kozhikode, Thrissur, Palakkad, Malappuram, and Kollam districts. In Thiruvananthapuram, 104 private buses which have permit did not ply. Heavy rush was witnessed on KSRTC buses and on Kochi metro services.
The KSRTC which operated 5,542 buses, including 219 additional services on Friday, rose to the occasion on Saturday and operated matching schedules with the available fleet. The daily revenue from buses touched ₹7.22 crore on February 16, the first day of the strike, compared to ₹5.66 crore on February 9, the previous Friday.
