Weighed down by spiralling fuel prices, fleet operating cost and other expenses including salary to its employees, the Tamil Nadu government on Friday announced an upward revision in bus fares, after a gap of six years. The revised fare will come into effect from Saturday.
While the mofussil fare for a distance of 10 km has been increased by one rupee in ordinary service, the fare for 30 km distance has been hiked from ₹17 to ₹24 in the express/semi-deluxe service category. The revision is steep in Volvo service (from ₹33 to ₹51), air-conditioned bus (₹27 to ₹42), ultra deluxe (₹21 to ₹33) and super deluxe (₹18 to ₹27) categories. This is the second time that the bus fares have been revised in the State since 2001. The last revision was undertaken by the AIADMK government in November 2011.
In an official release, the government said it was “pushed” to revise the fares. It also cited an interim order of the Madras High Court that had observed that the government had to decide on revising the bus fare.
Maintaining that the revised bus fare was still lower than in neighbouring States like Kerala and Andhra Pradesh, the government cited a variety of factors including frequent revision in diesel price, increased cost of new buses and spare parts, a ballooning wage bill, legal compensation and other expenses incurred by the government transport corporations to back its decision.
To mobilise funds for dealing with legal compensation, the State government has also decided to create an accident compensation, prevention and toll fund.
Feel the pinch
The Tamil Nadu government has hiked fares for both mofussil and local bus services. A snap shot of the old and new fares.
Fare hike in mofussil bus service
| Type of service | Old fare | New fare | Change in fare |
| Ordinary | 50 | 60 | 10 |
| Semi-deluxe | 56.66 | 80 | 23.34 |
| Super-deluxe | 60 | 90 | 30 |
| Ultra-deluxe | 70 | 110 | 40 |
| AC | 90 | 140 | 50 |
| Volvo | 110 | 170 | 60 |
The above fares are for buses that ply in plains. For buses that ply in the mountains, an additional charge of 20 per cent is levied. For example, in mountains, the new fare for a/c buses is 160 paise/km
In comparison (figures from govt. data)
| States | Ordinary | Semi deluxe | Super Deluxe | Ultra deluxe | A/c | Volvo |
| Tamil Nadu | 60 | 80 | 90 | 110 | 140 | 170 |
| AP | 61.7 | 87 | 98 | 116 | 146 | 182 |
| Kerala | 64 | 72 | 90 | 90 | 110 | 130 |
| Karnataka | 59 | 90 | 112 | 131 | 177 | 190 |
According to the Tamil Nadu government, its new fares are lower than what is being charged in other states in many categories.
Fare hike in corporations and cities
| Old fare | New fare | |||
| Type | Lowest fare | Highest fare | Lowest fare | Highest fare |
In other Corporations and Cities | 3 | 12 | 5 | 19 |
| In Chennai (MTC) | 3 | 14 | 5 | 23 |
