Bhubaneswar, June 4: The state government today increased fares of all private buses ranging from 4 to 8 paise a kilometre following continuous hike in fuel prices.
Besides, it also notified the automatic fare revision formula that bus operators had been demanding for the past two years.
The latest revision has increased the fare for ordinary and express buses by 4 paise a kilometre, while the ticket price for deluxe buses has gone up by 6 paise and air-conditioned buses by 8 paise.
The fare for ordinary buses has gone up from 57 paise to 61 paise a kilometre and express buses from 60 paise to 64 paise, while the fare for deluxe buses has gone up from 80 paise to 86 paise a kilometre, and for AC deluxe buses, it has been increased from 99 paise to Rs 1.07.
Earlier, the private bus owners had threatened to go on an indefinite strike from June 6 if the state government did not fulfil their 15-charter demands that included fare revision following successive diesel price hikes and the automatic fare revision formula. However, they called off the strike following discussion with commerce and transport minister Ramesh Majhi.
The minister today said that following the report of the technical committee that was working on the fare revision following diesel price rise, the formula was finalised and implemented from today.
"According to the notification, the fare for ordinary and express buses will be increased by 1 paisa per kilometre if the fuel price goes up by Rs 2 per litre and for the deluxe and air-conditioned buses, the fare will be hiked by 2 paise per kilometre in such cases. Similarly, for fuel price cut of Rs 2 per litre, the fares will be reduced by 1 paisa per kilometre for ordinary and express buses and 2 paise for deluxe and air-conditioned buses," said the minister.
The fare was revised downwards in February 11 when the diesel price was Rs 50.68 per litre. In the past four months, the diesel price has been revised several times, and the current rate is Rs 57.61 per litre.
"The fare revision had been due, and it was done following the technical committee's report," said Majhi.
The minister also said the automatic fare revision had been made effective from today. According to the formula, the fare will automatically rise or fall whenever there is a hike or cut in the fuel prices.
The bus operators have welcomed the decision of automatic fare revision and claimed that though it took more than two years for the state government to take the decision, it has come at a right time and would help everybody.
Debendra Sahu, general secretary of the All Odisha Private Bus Owners' Association said that along with these two demands, the state government had also fulfilled other 13 demands of the association and there were no more outstanding issues with the government now.
