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Bus travel to cost more in Punjab from today; fares hiked by 5%
Ruchika M Khanna/TNS

Chandigarh, August 8
Come Friday, and hundreds of thousands of passengers using state transport buses in Punjab will have to pay more for their travel. Bus fares will go up by 4 paise per km from tomorrow.

After the 5 per cent increase in fares, passenger travelling by ordinary buses will have to pay 83 paise per km, while those travelling by AC buses will have to pay 99.60 paise per km. Those using the integral coach for travel will have to pay Rs 1.49 per km, while the fare for super deluxe buses will now be Rs 1.66 per km.

The government has also decided to hike the motor vehicle tax by 5 per cent (from Rs 2.75 per seat to Rs 3 per seat). The twin steps will help the transport department generate additional revenue of Rs 100 crore.

The hike in bus fares was necessitated due to frequent hikes in diesel prices, inflation and increase in operational costs, sources said. The state expects to earn Rs 58.4-crore profit due to the increase in bus fares.

The Transport Department and private bus operators in the state had been demanding hike in bus fares citing increase in diesel prices and other operational costs. The diesel prices have been on the upswing for almost a year now, with an average 50 paise per litre increase in diesel price every month. This alone had been playing havoc with the profitability of the state transport department that runs a fleet of 2,400 buses. Even the private transporters had been feeling the pinch.

Jagdish Sawhney, working president of the Punjab Motor Transporters Association, said they had demanded an increase of 9 paise per km. "We had approached the government repeatedly to increase the fares. Though the increase is less, but at least it will help us tide over the financial crunch caused by hike in diesel prices and other operational costs," he said. He was, however, unhappy with the increase in motor vehicle tax.