The Odisha Transport Department on Thursday increased the bus fare in the State owing to a continuous rise in the price of Diesel.
The fare has been hiked for all five categories of bus services.
The ordinary service fare has been hiked by four paise to 89 paisa/km, express service by four paisa to 93 paisa/km, both deluxe and AC deluxe service by eight paisa to 129 paisa/km and the super-premium service has been increased by 12 paisa to 244 paisa/km.
An order issued by the department read, "The increase in the per litre price of diesel from Rs 88.77 on March 4 to Rs 97.25 as on July 1, the fare for stage carriers other than town buses plying within the State of Odisha will be fixed at an increased rate."
The revised fare will be implemented effective from July 1, the order read.
It is pertinent to mention here that the Odisha government has allowed plying of buses in as many as 20 districts which have been categorized in group A where Test Positivity Rate (TPR) is less than 5 percent. Those include- Angul, Dhenkanal, Keonjhar, Sundargarh, Jharsuguda, Bargarh, Sambalpur, Deogarh, Kalahandi, Balangir, Nuapada, Sonepur, Ganjam, Gajapati, Kandhamal, Boudh, Koraput, Nabarangpur, Malkangiri and Rayagada.
Earlier in the day, Transport Minister Padmanabh Behera said that the department will soon release an SOP to ensure that all the Covid-19 protocols are thoroughly followed, during operation of bus services, by the operators as well as passengers.