There had been a steep hike in the fare announced for the private buses being requisitioned for poll duty in the State.
The rise in fares had been in the range of 50 to 60 per cent this time round as the Election Commission had already commenced the exercise of requisitioning buses, official sources informed. Coupled with this, the poll preparations are in full swing in Bastar and Rajnandgaon districts. It was learnt that the Election Commission had asked for 800 buses in Raipur district which comprises 650 small and 160 large buses.
This apart, about 1,000 buses had been demanded for Bemetara, Bilaspur, Jagdalpur, Rajnandagaon, Durg and some more districts. Earlier, the owners of buses had not agreed to the fare prescribed by the Election Commission while demanding a hike. According to Haji Sharif Raza, General Secretary of Yatayat Mahasangh, the fare of 15 seater bus had been raised from Rs 45 to Rs 70 per hour, the fare for 16 to 25 seater buses had been raised from Rs 55 to Rs 80 per hour.
Similarly, for 26 to 34 seater buses the fare had been hiked from Rs 65 to Rs 90 per hour, 50 to 60 seater buses it had been hiked from Rs 75 to Rs 110 and for buses above 51 seats, the fare had been hiked from Rs 85 to Rs 125 per hour.