By IANS,
Bhubaneswar : Private bus owners in Orissa Wednesday said they want the government to hike the fares by four to seven paise per kilometre in view of the recent increase in fuel prices.
Prakash Mishra, president of the bus owner’s association, told IANS: “The state has around 6,000 private buses that run on four categories – ordinary, express, deluxe and super deluxe. The present fares per kilometre are 41, 43, 56 and 69 paise, respectively. We have sent a letter to the chief minister demanding that the prices be correspondingly revised to 45, 47, 61 and 76 paise.”
Earlier this month, the central government increased the prices of petrol by Rs.5, diesel by Rs.3 and cooking gas by Rs.50 per cylinder.
To soften the blow of the hike in prices, the Orissa government reduced value added tax (VAT) on petrol and diesel by two percent. After the reduction, the prices of petrol and diesel in the state are Rs.50.82 and Rs.37.25, respectively.
“Even though the state government has reduced VAT, we will have to spend more for running the buses,” Mishra said.
“We have received their demands and are examining them,” Transport Minister Jaya Narayan Mishra said.