The decision on a possible hike in bus fares has been left to the Left Front (LF), after the transport department and bus-owners failed to reach a consensus at a meeting on Tuesday afternoon.

The meeting was held in the wake of dearer diesel prices.

“The proposal will be forwarded to the LF, which will take the final call. The process will take time, so the fare hike might not come into effect from July 1, as indicated earlier. It is yet to be decided whether there will be a hike at all,” an official in the state transport department told Metro.

The government suggested Rs 4 as the fare for the first two km, compared to the existing rate of Rs 4 for the initial four km. A hike of 50 paise to Rs 2 was suggested for every successive four-kilometre slab.

A concrete proposal is yet to come for minibuses.

The bus-owners did not approve of the proposed increase in fares. “We do not want an increase in fares at all. Hiking fares will not ease matters either for the commuters or for us,” said Bengal Bus Syndicate president Swarnakamal Saha.

“The transport department has simply juggled with the fares to more or less maintain the existing structure,” added Saha.

Bus-owners demanded a further reduction on the sales tax on diesel in order to cushion public transport from the hike in diesel prices.

“They should reduce the tax on high-speed diesel since BS III buses cannot operate without it. High-speed diesel should be encouraged for lesser pollution and better upkeep of vehicle,” Saha explained.