New bus fares from today

By Our Staff Reporter

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM, SEPT. 30. Effective from tomorrow, bus fares in the State will go up by 25 per cent as the Government sets about implementing the revised charges that were cleared by the Cabinet on Sept. 11.

Henceforth, the minimum charge for ordinary services would be Rs. 2 in place of the previous fare of Rs. 1.75. Travel by a fast passenger service will cost the public a minimum of Rs. 3 while they will have to pay a minimum of Rs. 6 for super fast services, Rs. 10 for super express services and Rs. 20 for deluxe services. The earlier minimum fares for these categories of buses were Rs. 2.50, Rs. 4, Rs. 7 and Rs. 13.50 respectively.

The Government has fixed a minimum fare of Rs. 30 for the luxury services (semi-sleeper video coaches) to be introduced by the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) shortly.

These fare hikes will be applicable to bus services run by private agencies also who will now have to pay 50 per cent more vehicle tax. The concessional fares currently being extended to students will, however, remain unaltered.

The new fares are expected to fetch the cash-strapped KSRTC an additional income of Rs. 28 lakhs per day. This, coupled with the ongoing reduction of the current `dead mileage,' would, according to the Government estimates, help the Corporation, which is running at a daily loss of Rs. 50 lakhs, break even. The reduction of `dead mileage' would enable it to make a daily saving of 25,000 litres of diesel. Buses of the KSRTC are estimated to run one lakh kilo metres of `dead mileage' at present.

The vehicle taxes, payable by private owners, would go up from Rs. 400 to Rs. 600 per quarter for ordinary services. In the case of fast passenger services, the increase would be from Rs. 460 to Rs. 690 a quarter. For standing capacity on ordinary buses, the tax will go up from Rs. 140 to Rs. 210 a quarter. In case of city services, the increase would be from Rs. 100 to Rs. 150. Bus fares had been increased by 22 per cent in 1996 and 27 per cent in 1999.

The Government decision to increase bus fares has drawn flak from Opposition parties. Some parties have urged the Government to ensure that there are improvements in the facilities in the KSRTC buses even as fares are being hiked.

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