KOCHI: With the diesel prices going up, the bus owners association on Monday said it will go on a warning strike on November 15. They said an indefinite strike will be launched if the government does not hike the fares. The fare was last increased in March. The Private Bus Operators Federation’s demands include increasing students’ fare, implementing the government’s decision to increase the age limit of stage carriages from 15 to 20 and to come up with a transport policy to maintain a balance between KSRTC and private buses. The association will conduct a protest march on November 8 to the Secretariat raising the aforementioned demands.
“When the fare was increased in March, the rate of diesel was Rs 62 per litre and later it was increased to Rs 81 per litre. An increase of Rs 19 has happened thus increasing the expense of buses per day by Rs 1520. The lack of quality of the roads increases the fuel consumption by 10-15 litre diesel every day to cover the distance of the trip,” said Kerala State Private Bus Operators Federation president M B Sathyan.
Many buses have even stopped services due to issues with the finance and lack of income to sustain them. “The central government has taken away the subsidy and the excise duty has been increased several times.
While corporates benefit from this, the lives of bus owners, workers and thousands in the sector are at stake,” said M B Sathyan.The association alleged that the state government is looting the people with a 22.76 per cent sales tax, `1 cess which amounts to almost `16 for diesel and over `20 for petrol with a cess of `1 and sales tax of 30.80 per cent.If the authorities do not come to a compromise on November 8, a warning strike will be held on November 15. A protest meeting will be held in all districts before November 8.