Odishatv Bureau

Bhubaneswar: Bowing to the long-standing demand of Odisha Private Bus Owners’ Association, the State government today brought in an automatic fare adjustment mechanism in view of frequent rise and fall of fuel prices and hiked bus fares as part of implementation of the new module.

The fares, which have been increased ranging between 4 and 10 paise, are effective from today, Transport minister Ramesh Majhi said.

As per the new rates decided by the High Power Technical Committee of the State government, fare in the ordinary category buses has gone up from 57 paise to 61 paise per km while the express category fare rose to 64 paise, up by four paise.

In the deluxe category, the fare went up by 6 paise – from 80 paise to 86 paise per km, whereas the air-conditioned deluxe slab saw the hike by 10 paise – from 97 paise to Rs 1.07.

An official said as per the newly designed automatic module, fares in ordinary and express category buses will be hiked by 1 paise per km when diesel prices rise Rs 2/litre. Similarly, for A/C deluxe buses, the fare will go up by 2 paise/km in case diesel price is increased by Rs 2 per litre. The downward revision of bus fares will be calculated in the same manner, the official added.

The private bus operators had sought a raise following the diesel price hike and had threatened to go off the roads from June 5. The State government had assured them that their demand will be considered soon.

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