Bhubaneswar, July 31: City bus fares are set to go up but commuters can take heart with the housing and urban development department coming up with a new formula, which, it claims, will not burn a big hole in their pockets.
The fare revision for buses plying in Bhubaneswar, Cuttack, Puri and Khurda will be computed by considering the percentage of the difference in the rise of fuel price added to the percentage of difference in the consumer price index and the annual maintenance charge of vehicles.
Earlier, the calculation was done simply on the basis of difference in old and new fuel prices.The consumer price index is a measure of average change of prices paid by consumer for a service. Here it includes wages of employees, rates of tyres and other accessories. Annual maintenance charge of the buses is computed on the basis of the contract signed by the operator and the government for maintenance related costs.
The new formula has been sent to Bhubaneswar Puri Transport Service Limited (BPTSL), the government body managing the bus service and the Dream Team Shahara (DTS), the private operator of the city buses, for their views. However, authorities clarified that the method of calculating the hike may change in future. The revised fares, depending on the opinion of the BPTSL and the DTS, would be made effective within one month.
Sisir Kumar Ratho, special secretary of the department, said the new formula was more rational and would be less burdensome for the commuters.
The new calculation method has been worked out by the transaction advisor to the city bus service, Urban Mass Transit Company limited (UMTCL), a special purpose vehicle (SPV) of the Union ministry of urban development.
The move to revise the fares comes in the wake of a urban development department writing a letter to the BPTSL in this regard pointing out that diesel prices had gone up by more than Rs 7.20 since the last fare revision in 2013. The operator had served an ultimatum to the government, saying that if the fares were not revised by July 23, it would be take buses off roads.
Following this letter, the government called a meeting last week and asked the UMTCL to work out a new formula for fare revision. A DTS official said they were aware of the development. “We will take a call after we receive the letter of the urban development department. We hope it will be reasonable,” he said.
In another development, Private Bus Owners’ Association has threatened to go on strike from August 9, as the government did not meet their demand for fare revision. However, transport minister Ramesh Majhi has urged them to refrain from agitation as the government was considering their demand. “We are aware of the minister’s appeal. But they should not take too long to take a call on the issue as we had put up our demands over two months ago,” said general secretary of the association Debendra Sahu.
