A city bus in Bhubaneswar. Telegraph picture

Bhubaneswar, July 17: The city bus operator has written to the government seeking upward revision of fares without which they would be forced to halt the service.

The private operator, Dream Team Shahara (DTS), has written a letter to Bhubaneswar-Puri Transport Service Limited, the government body managing city buses in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri and Khurda, to revise the fares keeping in view the rapid increase in diesel rates since the last revision in September last year.

The plea would now be forwarded to the housing and urban development department to take a final decision in this regard.

Officials in the DTS said during the last revision of fares, diesel price was Rs 55.03 per litre. However, it has now reached Rs 62.28 per litre after the rate hike at the beginning of this month. There has been an increase of over Rs 7.25 per litre of diesel during this phase.

Sources in the DTS said that out of the 130 buses, the operators run around 90 vehicles daily and they consume around 4,000 litres of diesel every day.

“We have to incur a loss of around Rs 30,000 due to the diesel price hike on a daily basis now,” said an official. Chief operating officer of the DTS Sudhansu Jena said they have asked for fare revision to offset the loss.

Sources in the DTS said that if the government did not take any decision by July 23, the operator would be forced to keep the buses off roads, as losses would keep on mounting when the vehicles would ply.

At present, the city bus fares are Rs 6 for first three kilometres, Rs 8 for three to six kilometres and Rs 9 for six to nine kilometres. After that, the fare increases by Rs 2 for every three kilometres. However, those travelling beyond 30 km have to pay Rs 43.

Director of the municipal administration Sanjib Mishra, who is also CEO of the transport body, said they had got the letter and were examining it.

In another development, the All Odisha Private Bus Owners’ Association, which had threatened to keep vehicles off roads if fares were not hiked, said the technical committee had met today.

“The committee will meet tomorrow again, and we are sure that they will take a decision. We are going to call our governing body meeting again and give the government seven days ultimatum before taking any harsh step,” said general secretary of the association Debendra Sahu.