Assam transport minister Chandra Mohan Patowary on Wednesday said the bus fares in the state will be increased by 30 per cent.

The long-distance buses have already started collecting the increased fare (40 per cent) from passengers since Wednesday morning.

While replying to a question by the All India United Democratic Front MLA Aminul Islam regarding the new bus fares proposed by three bus associations, Patowary said fares are the least in Assam in the country, barring Karnataka.

The Guwahati Transport Association, Guwahati Metro Transport Association and the Deluxe Bus Association had come up with the increased bus fares on Monday. They had sought a hike of 50 per cent.

They had announced the introduction of the new fares from Wednesday but the date was deferred because of “technical problems”.

“The last time bus fares were hiked was in 2012. Since then, the prices of motor parts have increased by 68 per cent, salaries of employees incre-ased by 54 per cent and the insurance of vehicles increased by 45 per cent. The prices of petrol and diesel have also increased,” Patowary said.

The general secretary of the All Assam Motor Transport Association, Pradip Das, told The Telegraph that there was no untoward incident while collecting fares at the increased 40 per cent rate by the long-distance buses.

“The long-distance buses started collecting increased fares from today itself. There was no untoward incident. The public has supported the new price,” Das said.

He said Patowary promised them on August 31 that the government will increase the rate by 40 per cent. “The date of implementing the new fares was deferred for the buses plying in Guwahati only.”

Patowary said the Assam State Transport Corporation has tied up with various bus manufacturing companies to use their buses and share the profit.

“But the private bus operators cannot do that. Many will be jobless if the private bus operators stop operating. That is why we will increase bus fares by 30 per cent,” he said.

IWT bill passed

The Assam Inland Water Transport Regulatory Authority Bill, 2018 was passed by the state Assembly on Wednesday amid protests from the Opposition.

The bill provides for the constitution of an inland water transport regulatory authority to promote safe, efficient, reliable and environmentally-sound inland water transport and terminal services for ferry users, freight consigners and water tourism in the state.

Patowary had tabled the bill in the Assembly on September 28. In the wake of the boat capsize in the Brahmaputra here on September 5, the government had announced that it would bring a bill to ensure the safety of passengers travelling on the vessels.

Several MLAs from the Congress and AIUDF, Independent MLA Bhuban Pegu and ruling BJP MLA Prasanta Phukan objected to making double engines mandatory for the mechanised boats.

Speaker Hitendra Nath Goswami proposed that he would form a committee with members from each political party and their suggestions will be placed before the authority.

The Opposition had proposed 16 amendments but all were considered withdrawn.