Chandigarh, July 29
Bus passengers in Punjab will now have to shell out 10 per cent more for their journeys. The state government has reportedly decided to raise the fares from 42 paise per kilometre to 46 paise per kilometre.
A single journey in a Punjab bus from Chandigarh to Ludhiana will now cost Rs 4 extra while those travelling to Amritsar from here will pay Rs 10 more.
The new fares will become effective soon after notification in the state gazette.
The Transport Department had been demanding a revision of bus fares for a long time now. It made the hike in diesel prices as the basis for making the bus travel costlier in the state. It maintained that during the past one year, the price of diesel had been revised upwards thrice.
Yesterday, the Transport Minister accompanied by the Food Supplies Minister reportedly held a meeting with the Chief Minister where the proposal for revising bus fares was cleared.
Though the state had a tax-free Budget some months ago, increase in bus fares is the third major hike affecting a common man. On the eve of the Budget, the state had revised the stamp duty upwards besides increasing electricity duty.
Even private bus operators, some of whom operate under the Kilometre Scheme of the Punjab Roadways and the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation, have also been demanding revision of
bus
fares maintaining that operations have become costlier because of nearly 30 per cent increase in diesel prices since the last revision of bus fares.Private bus operators had served an ultimatum on the state government some time ago to rationalise and revise bus fares. Several members of the Punjab Vidhan Sabha, including ministers, are in transport business.
After Punjab revises bus fares, others, including Chandigarh, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Delhi, may follow suit.
