Private bus owners might stop plying their vehicles after the Bahuda Rath Yatra demanding a hike in bus fare, which has not been revised since October 2013, said Private Bus Owners’ Association General Secretary Debendra Sahu on Wednesday.
Talking to the reporters here, Sahu said they bear heavy losses due to the hikes in diesel price at regular intervals and the State Government’s apathy for not increasing the fare accordingly. The Government had reviewed the bus fare last year when the diesel price was at Rs 55.03 per litre, but now the diesel price goes up to Rs 62.25 and the former is silent, he added.
“We spend an extra Rs 7.22 per litre of diesel and, as a result, we face loss to the tune of about Rs 800 to 1,000 per bus per day which is too much for us,” said Sahu, adding, “We had submitted a memorandum to the Commerce and Transport Minister on June 13 to review the bus fare, but in vain.”
Sahu said the association would discuss in detail about the matter in its general body meeting next week and decide the future course of action. Now, the association, which has 58 affiliated bodies across the State, operates around 14,000 buses, he added.
Notably, the standard fare is 59 paise per kilometer for ordinary buses, 62 paise for express buses, 82 paise for deluxe and Rs 1 for AC deluxe buses.