A final decision on bus fare hike will be taken after receiving the recommendations of the technical committee, Commerce and Transport Minister Subrat Tarai said here on Saturday.
Talking to mediapersons, Tarai said, “We have sent the 13-point charter of demands of the Private Bus Owners’ Association to the technical committee. The Government will take a decision on bus fare hike on the basis of recommendations of the committee”.
Meanwhile, the All-Odisha Private Bus Owners’ Association has postponed its proposed strike after a meeting with the Transport Minister.
“We had a fruitful discussion with the Minister who assured us to look into our demands. The Association has decided to postpone the proposed bus strike for the time being,” Association Secretary Debendra Sahoo said.
The private bus operators of the State had served a 15-day ultimatum on the State Government for implementing a fuel price-based flexible fare system failing which they would stop operation for an indefinite period.
Earlier, the Association had threatened to go on strike after the Rath Yatra, but deferred their decision following a request from the Transport Minister.
The Association has already submitted a memorandum to the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary seeking a model, wherein bus fares would be hiked by one paisa when diesel price is raised to a stipulated price point. The fare would come down in the same proportion when fuel price is reduced.
Currently, bus fares for different categories stand at 55 paise per km for ordinary, 58 paise for express, 76 paise for de luxe and 96 paise for air-conditioned de luxe buses. The bus fare were last raised on November 1, 2012.