Delhi seeks L-G's nod for drastic bus fares cuts

The Delhi government has proposed significant reduction in city bus fares, and sent the file on the move to Lt. Governor Anil Baijal for approval, Transport Minister Satyendar Jain said on Wednesday.

"The file has been sent to Lt. Governor for his nod. We hope that he will give his approval for the project in a day or two," Jain told the media here.

Jain said that the city government decided to significantly reduce the fares of Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC) and cluster buses for January to battle pollution and encourage people to use more and more public transport.

The Delhi government runs some 4,500 buses.

Jain said the slashed fares were to come into effect from January 1 but this could not be done because Delhi's the then Lt. Governor Najeeb Jung resigned.

"The then LG Najeeb Jung resigned, due to which the process to get final approval from the LG got delayed," Jain added.

According to the proposal, commuters will have to pay a flat fare of only Rs 10 to travel in air-conditioned buses and Rs 5 for non-AC buses for the month of January.

At present, the fares are in slabs of Rs 5, Rs 10 and Rs 15 for non-AC buses and Rs 15, Rs 20 and Rs 25 for AC buses.

Daily bus-pass rates also have been proposed to be reduced from Rs 40-50 to a flat rate of Rs 20 for a month for January.

--IANS

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