KSRTC draws passenger's ire over fare hike

Fares of all rural buses have gone up steeply, increasing Rs 10-15 for long-distance buses in place of Rs 8

The efforts of the Centre to cut down the diesel subsidy burden by increasing the fuel every now and then has forced the KSRTC to revise its fares yet again and that has seen people in Mysore up in arms. In addition to that, the dearness allowance to its staff too has burdened the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC).

Although the KSRTC had announced an increase in its bus fares by around 7.96 per cent from Saturday midnight, the hike has in reality been in the range of 12 per cent to 20 per cent, drawing flak from passengers and protests from organisations.

BJP activists today staged a protest against the hike in fares here at the Gandhi Square. They demanded a rollback in the fares stating that it had further burdened the common man who was already hit by raising prices of his daily needs.

They warned the state government that if the fares were not withdrawn immediately, they would intensify their agitation across the state. The protesters also blocked some KSRTC buses at the venue.

Similarly, activists of the Mysore Kannada Vedike also staged a demonstration against the increase in bus fares in front of the city bus stand.

Announcing the increase in KSRTC bus fares in Bangalore last week, Transport Minister R Ramalinga Reddy had defended the increase to offset the repeated increases in diesel and oil prices and the increase in dearness allowance to its employees, which together had put an additional burden of over Rs 207.82 crore. The KSRTC is expected to mop up revenues of Rs 123.87 crore by the hike.

While the revision amounting to 7.96 per cent in general, it was kept a little lower at 7.66 per cent for ordinary services, keeping the rural passengers in mind. The increase had come into effect from Saturday midnight.

However, the jump in fares beyond the rates announced by the KSRTC has come as a rude shock to the passengers. They allege that it was nothing short of daylight robbery by the KSRTC and the government, which went against its own announcement.

While fares of all Vegadhoota and rural buses have gone up steeply, it has been increased Rs 10-15 for long-distance buses in place of Rs 8. Similarly, fares of all city buses have been increased beyond the percentage announced.

The increased bus fares for some destinations from Mysore are (rates before revision are shown within brackets): Bangalore Rs 132 (Rs 120), Nanjangud Rs 30 (Rs 25), Hunsur Rs 45 (Rs 40), Chamarajanagar Rs 60 (Rs 55), Mangalore Rs 244 (Rs 227), and Gonikoppa Rs 90 (Rs 83).