M A I N   N E W S

Bus fare up 20 per cent in Punjab
Umesh Dewan
Tribune News Service

PRTC Route Hike (Rs) Chd-Ludhiana 13 Chd-Jalandhar 22 Chd-Amritsar 32.50 Patiala-Ludhiana 13

Patiala, October 13
The Punjab Government has increased bus fare in the state by around 20 per cent. From today, the commuters would have to shell out 13 paise more for every kilometre. The hike follows the recent increase in diesel prices by Rs 5.

With today’s increase, the bus fare in the state has gone up from the existing 66 paise per km to 79 paise per km.

At present, the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) and the Punjab Roadways, owned by the state government, have a fleet of 1,023 and 1,800 buses, respectively. Apart from this, private bus operators also operate around 4,000 buses in the state. The last hike in bus fare was effected around two years ago.

Private bus operators and the PRTC had sought an increase in the bus fare after the recent hike in diesel prices. While the PRTC had sent a request to the state government for increasing the bus fare by 22 paise, the PRTC MD DPS Kharbanda said they had been suffering a loss of Rs 5 lakh per day after of the recent hike in diesel prices. “Considering the fact that the monthly loss would have been in excess of Rs 1.5 crore, it was virtually not possible to bear so much loss,” he added. They had sent a request to the state government to hike the bus fare, he said. Though the government had increased the fare by only 13 paise, it would still help in managing the financial situation of the corporation, he added.

As per PRTC officials, the bus fare from Chandigarh to Ludhiana will now go up by about Rs 13. Every passenger will have to pay around Rs 22 more while travelling from Chandigarh to Jalandhar and Rs 32.50 more while travelling from Chandigarh to Amritsar. The fare will go up from the existing Rs 78 to Rs 91 on the Patiala-Ludhiana route. The state government hiked the bus fare from 49 paise per km to 56 paise per km in January 2010. Later, in December 2010, the fare was further increased by 10 paise per km.