Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government said on Saturday a final call on bus fare hike will be taken after receiving the recommendations of technical committee.

"We have sent the private bus owners' association's 13-point charter of demands to the technical committee. On the basis of recommendations of the  committee the state government will take a decision on bus fare hike," said Subrat Tarai, Commerce and Transport minister.

In a significant development the bus owners' association called off its planned strike temporarily after a meeting with the transport minister.

"As the minister assured us he will look into our demands, we are postponing bus strike for the time being. We are waiting for the technical committee report," said Debendra Sahoo, secretary of association.

Notably, during the early of this month the private bus operators of the state had served a 15-day ultimatum to the state government for a raise in the bus fare failing which they would stop operation for an indefinite period.

Currently, the bus fare for different categories stands at 55 paise per km for ordinary, 58 paise for express, 76 paise for deluxe and 96 paise for air-conditioned deluxe. The last raise was effected in October last year.

The private operators dominate the transport system in the state and run around 14,000 buses.

A technical committee of the state government prescribes bus fare structure.