Private buses parked along a road in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, May 14: Private bus operators will urge the state government to review existing fares in view of the recent hike in diesel price.

The price of diesel was raised by Rs 1.09 per litre on Monday, and after adding tax, it became Rs 1.30 per litre. Now, the diesel price has gone up to Rs 60.04 from Rs 58.74 per litre.

“This is not the first time that the diesel price has gone up. Since the last bus fare revision in October 2013, diesel price has been increased by Rs 5.60 per litre. But, we have been operating buses without any fare revision, thereby incurring heavy losses,” said spokesperson of the All Odisha Private Bus Owners’ Association Debashis Nayak.

With the hike in the diesel price, the price of other petroleum products will also go up, further affecting the bus operators, he said.

Stating that the bus owners did not want the passengers to suffer, Nayak said: “If bus fare is hiked, it will affect the passengers. So, we want the government to make some alternative arrangement that would help reduce our loss without affecting the common men much,” said another member of the association.

At present, the fare for ordinary buses is 59 paisa per kilometre, for express buses 62 paisa, deluxe buses 82 paisa and AC buses Re 1.

The technical committee, headed by transport commissioner, of the state government has taken the decision to revise the fare.

“We would shortly submit a memorandum in this regard to the transport commissioner,” said Nayak.

The common people also feel that the diesel price hike would affect them much. “Public transport operators would manage to influence the government and increase the fare. The increased fare will affect us the most,” said Sourav Ranjan Mohanty, a frequent bus passenger.

“It will ultimately force a rise in prices of essential commodities,” said Soudamani Rout, a home-maker.

Daily bus commuters alleged that the oil companies took the election time to increase the rate of diesel when no government can take any step. “Any rise in bus fare will definitely affect us. We hope the new government takes steps to control such frequent hikes in petroleum prices,” said Nrupesh Samantray of Cuttack.