The Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) has hiked fares across the board by an average of 15 per cent. The new fares came into force from Thursday midnight.
According to a BMTC announcement, the minimum ticket fare ticket for the first stage for a non-AC bus has been increased from Rs. 5 to Rs. 6 while ticket fares for further stages would increase by an average of 15 per cent thereafter.
Anjum Parwez, Managing Director, BMTC said that the fare hike varied between 14 and 18 percent. However, he said the increase may vary in different stages. For instance, the minimum ticket fare for the first stage of an AC bus has been raised from Rs. 10 to Rs. 15 and the second stage fare has also been raised from Rs. 15 to Rs. 20.
“Although the BMTC has seen a growth in revenue by 16 percent, it is largely cancelled out owing to increase in expenditure. The total expenditure has increased by more than Rs.300 crore. This is chiefly due to the increase in diesel prices, ” he said.
Fare hike was the only way for the BMTC to come out of this vicious cycle of loss making, Mr. Parwez said, remarking that the BMTC expected to earn around Rs. 235 crore with this hike. In a press statement, the BMTC claimed that the corporation made all efforts to improve its performance parameters during 2013-14. “The BMTC is compelled to increase its revenue by more than Rs.300 crore during the financial year 2014-15 to cover the losses of 2013-14 as well as to take care of future increase in the cost of operation,” the statement added.
