The State Government hiked bus fares by four to eight paise per km with effect from Thursday.
But in a move that has greater long-term implications, it also announced implementation for an automatic mechanism for revision of bus fares.
According to a notification issued by the Commerce and Transport Department, the fare for ordinary buses would be raised from 57 paise to 61 paise per km, express buses from 60 paise to 64 paise, deluxe buses from 80 paise to 86 paise and AC deluxe buses from 99 paise to Rs1.07 paise per km.
Commerce and Transport Minister Ramesh Majhi
also announced implementation of the automatic
mechanism, a longstanding demand of bus owners that would see bus fares rise and fall based on the rise and fall of fuel prices.
As per the notification, the fare for ordinary and express buses per km would be hiked by one paisa if the price of diesel is hiked by Rs2 per litre while the fare of these buses would be reduced by one paisa if the price of diesel is reduced by Rs2 per litre.
The fare for deluxe and AC deluxe buses per km would be hiked by two paise if the price in the diesel is increased by Rs2 per litre while the fare of these buses would be reduced by two paise if the price in the diesel is reduced by Rs2 per litre.
Sources in the department clarified that the latest bus fare hike was based on the recommendation of the technical committee after the last two hikes in petroleum prices. This is the last time that this exercise was resorted to before the automatic mechanism comes into force.