Orissa raises bus fares

After a gap of nearly 22 months, the Orissa government today hiked the bus fare by 9.8 per cent. The increase in fuel and spare part costs has been officially cited as the reasons for the hike in bus fares. The new fare rate would be effected from this midnight.

Though various bus associations had demanded a hike of about 12.45 per cent, going by the recommendations of the Technical Committee (HPTC) headed by the Transport Commissioner, the government has raised the bus fare by 9.8 per cent.

While per kilometre bus fare for ordinary service has been raised from 42 paise to 46 paise, the per kilometre fare for express service has been raised to 48 paise from 44 paise previously. The passenger fare of the deluxe buses has been raised from to 64 paise per kilometre from 58 paise. Similarly, the fare of air-conditioned buses has been raised from 70 paise per kilometre to 77 paise per kilometre.

The increase in the bus fare was decided at a high level meeting chaired by the minister for commerce and transport, Sanjeev Sahoo in the state secretariat.

Talking to the media after the meeting Sahoo said, the government decided to hike the bus fares as there was increase in the prices of diesel, spare parts and lubricants among others. The technical committee had recommended the government to raise the bus fare by 9.81 percent and the government approved the recommendation today, Sahoo added.

Simultaneously, the government has also raised the fare of town buses plying in the state. The fare has been raised from Rs 3.9 for distance up to 3 kms to Rs 4.

For distance between 3 to 6 kms, it has been raised from Rs 4.3 to Rs 5. While the fare per passenger has been raised to Rs 5.5 from Rs 4.9 for a distance between 6 to 10 kms, the fare for a distance from 10 to 15 kms has been raised to Rs 6 from Rs 5.4 earlier.

The minister said, the fare for a distance between 15 to 20 kms has been raised to Rs 8 from Rs 7.3 earlier, the fare per passenger would be Rs 10 for the distance between 20 to 25 kms from Rs 9.3 earlier. It may be noted, there are more than 6000 private buses plying on the roads in the state.