Bihar transport department to hike bus fares by five to 20%

PATNA: The state transport department has decided to increase the bus fares by 5-20% on requests from private bus operators following the spike in fuel prices and its cascading effects on other commodities. The department has released the draft proposal of the revised fare for private and government buses on its official website.
The new rates are likely be implemented in the next 30 days after a mutual agreement among the stakeholders.The new rates have been fixed under sub-section (1) of Section 67 of the Motor Vehicles Act 1988.
The department has proposed Rs1.50 hike per km for general buses, Rs1.70/km for deluxe buses, Rs2/km for deluxe AC buses and Rs2.50/km for Volvo, Mercedes and its equivalent buses and Rs6.4 for the first 4 kms and Rs3 for the next 2 kms for city buses.
Transport secretary Sanjay Kumar Agarwal said the fare has been revised after 3 years in the interest of the operators and the public as the department received several complaints that the bus operators were charging exorbitant fares from commuters. “Besides, the bus operators were also demanding increase in fare due to the rise in fuel prices,” he said.
The department has also decided to revise the bus fare every six months depending on the rise and fall in petrol and diesel prices, he said.
Agarwal told this newspaper on Sunday that it would be better if they update the bus fare twice a year to control the excess fare charged by the bus operators. “We will also update the fare at every bus stand to make commuters people would also become aware,” the secretary said.
The last bus fare revision happened in 2018 when petrol was Rs81.04-Rs85.01 per litre and the diesel was Rs72.05- Rs78 per litre between June and October. The petrol is now being sold at Rs104.01/litre whereas the diesel price stood at Rs94.76/litre in the state capital on Sunday.
Uday Shankar Singh, president of Bihar Motor Transport Federation (BMTF), said with revised rates, most of the bus operators will be in no profit and no loss situation. “The new rates will not have much influence on our revenue, but at least we will not face losses,” he added.