Bhubaneswar, May 18: The Bhubaneswar-Puri Transport Services Limited (BPTSL), the organisation that manages the city bus service, has finally “given in” to the ever-rising fuel prices as it has proposed a fare hike for the first time since its inception about a year and half ago.

The BPTSL proposal includes a hike of Re 1 in fare for destinations within 0-12 kilometres. Similarly, it has proposed a hike of Rs 2 in destinations ranging between 12 to 15, 15 to 18 and 18 to 21 kilometres. Long-distance journey is expected to burn the deepest hole in the passengers’ pocket as the fare hike has been proposed as Rs 5 for travelling more than 30 kilometres.

Sources in the BPTSL said its board of directors had proposed the hike following an automatic fare revision formula. The formula takes into account fuel prices and consumer price index before arriving at a decision.

“Everyone is aware that fuel prices have been revised a number of times in the last one year. We are helpless at the face of ever-rising fuel prices. But, we have tried our best to make the hike minimal so that it does not affect the passengers harshly,” said an official of the transport company.

The BPTSL has been constituted to plan, contract and monitor the city bus service. Its various stakeholders include the Bhubaneswar Development Authority, the Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation, the Odisha State Road Transport Corporation Limited and the Puri Municipality.

The BPTSL had signed an agreement with Dream Team Sahara (DTS), a private operator, to run the bus service in public-private-partnership (PPP) mode.

The city bus service, which was introduced in October 10, 2010, started with 20 buses plying in the capital. Later, the service was extended to Puri, Cuttack and parts of Khurda. At present, 95 buses ply from the city everyday, which includes 70 buses for Bhubaneswar, 20 for Cuttack and five for Puri. The Union ministry of urban development has given the state government 125 buses under the Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission.

Ever since its introduction, the DTS has been ruing the lack of basic infrastructure and other facilities for smooth running of the service.

“We have been demanding origin and destination terminals for long. But, nothing has been done so far. Moreover, the bus terminal at Pokhariput is yet to be functional. When the bus service was started, the price of diesel was Rs 38 a litre. Now, it is Rs 44 a litre. But, there has not been any revision in the bus fares so far. We are recurring a loss of Rs 25,000 everyday for keeping the fares low and for lack of basic infrastructure,” said Sudhanshu Jena, chief executive officer of the DTS.

However, most daily passengers felt the fare hike would affect them badly.

“The bus service has become a major and reliable transport facility in the capital. Any hike in bus fares will affect all the passengers, especially students. The authorities must consider the impact of the fare hike on passengers carefully before taking any decision,” said Subhrajit Sahoo, a college-goer.

The bus service runs in 12 routes covering Bhubaneswar, Puri, Khurda and Cuttack. While buses are running in one route each between Bhubaneswar-Puri and Bhubaneswar-Khurda, there are two bus routes in Cuttack. Within the limits of the capital and its outskirts, the city buses ply eight routes.

Everyday, about 37,000 to 42,000 passengers depend on the bus service.

The general manager (administration) of the BPTSL, Sanjeev Kumar Mishra, stressed that the hike in bus fares was only at a proposal stage.

“Our board of directors have just proposed the fare hike. But, the final decision will be taken by the state government,” he said.