Bus fares hiked, students spared

Transport Minister Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan told reporters that the government was also planning a financial package for reviving the KSRTC. It was left with no option other  than effecting a nominal hike to tide over the financial crisis due to the rising diesel prices for sustaining the sector, Mr Radhakrishnan said.

The government had last announced the fare hike in November 2012. After that,  there was an increase of nearly 22 per cent in the diesel price which has gone up from  Rs 48.75 per litre then to Rs 60 now. Even on Monday there was a hike  of Rs 1, Mr Radhakrishnan said.

He  said that the revised fares will bring in an additional revenue of Rs 50 lakh daily  for the KSRTC with an increase of Rs 15 crore every month.Currently,  its monthly revenue is Rs 120 crore. The increase in the last revision was from 55 paise to 58 paise.

The criticism was that even the current charge is the  highest in South India as the minimum charge in Tamil Nadu is Rs 3 and Karnataka Rs 4.50.

Earlier, private bus operators had called off their indefinite strike from May 5 following the assurance given by the Transport Minister  to favourably consider their demand.

However, the operators are unhappy as their demand to  raise the minimum charge to Rs10 and increase the concessional rates for the students were not considered. The All-Kerala Bus Operators’ Confederation has even threatened a strike as the hike was not at all enough to bring down their losses.
Both private bus operators and the KSRTC have been demanding an increase in fares for the last one year. However, the government postponed its decision due to political reasons.