Another cut in Odisha bus fares soon: Minister

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bhubaneswar, Nov 1:

Odisha Transport minister Ramesh Majhi today informed that bus fares in the state will go for a further downward revision following the second major cut in diesel prices in the last few weeks.

The quantum of revision in bus fares will be announced after the technical committee on fixation of bus fares gives it opinion, the minister said.

Bus commuters in the state, who were disappointed with the marginal decrease in fares announced by state government recently, have demanded slashing of fares in view of yesterday’s diesel price cut. Oil companies announced a cut in diesel price by Rs 2.25 yesterday, which came into effect from today.

On October 29, the Odisha government had announced a marginal cut in bus fares by reducing it by 01 paise per km for ordinary and express buses and by 02 paise per km for deluxe and AC deluxe buses in the state following a decrease in diesel price by Rs 3.63 per litre.

The private bus owners’ association has been demanding an automatic mechanism for fixation of bus fares in the state in tandem with upward and downward revision of price of diesel and other components.

Before the recent revision of fares, the minister had informed that the department’s officers had visited other states to study the mechanisms in practice there. The government will take a decision on automatic revision of fares after they submit their report, he had said.