Facing fund crunch amid COVID crisis, HP govt hikes bus fares by 25 per cent

This time, the official spokesman said that the cabinet decided to increase the bus fare in the state as a result of fund crunch due to COVID-19 pandemic. Earlier on July 11, Transport Minister Govind Singh Thakur had told PTI that the state government was considering a proposal to increase the bus fare.

The Himachal Pradesh government on Monday decided to increase the bus fare by 25 per cent due to fund crunch amid the COVID-19 pandemic, an official spokesman said. The decision of hiking the bus fare was taken in the state cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Jai Ram Thakur here, he added.

The cabinet also decided to increase minimum bus fare for the first three kilometres from Rs 5 to Rs 7, the official added. There will be an increase of 25 per cent in the present per kilometre tariffs for all travellers beyond three kilometres for hilly and plain areas, he added.

This is the second hike in bus fares in the current BJP-led government which came to power in 2017. Earlier, the bus fare had been hiked in the state by around 25 per cent two years ago.

The fare of ordinary buses was then hiked from 90 paise to Rs 1.12 per kilometre (24.44 per cent increase) in the plains and Rs 1.45 to Rs 1.75 per km (20.69 per cent increase) in the hills. Similarly, the fare of deluxe buses was hiked from Rs 1.10 to Rs 1.37 per km (24.44 per cent increase) in the plains, and Rs 1.80 to Rs 2.17 per km (20.69 per cent increase) in the hilly areas.

In the air-conditioned buses, the fare was hiked to Rs 2.74 from Rs 2.20 per km (24.44 per cent increase) in the plain areas, and Rs 3.62 from Rs 3 per km (20.69 per cent increase) in the hilly areas. This time, the official spokesman said that the cabinet decided to increase the bus fare in the state as a result of fund crunch due to COVID-19 pandemic.

Earlier on July 11, Transport Minister Govind Singh Thakur had told PTI that the state government was considering a proposal to increase the bus fare. Bus services within the state resumed on June 1 after a gap of over two months. It was suspended on March 22 as the state went into a lockdown to check the coronavirus spread.

The government allowed the movement of non-AC buses within the state while retaining curbs on interstate bus travel. While Himachal Road Transport Corporation (HRTC) is running its buses within the state, the majority of the private bus operators stopped services and demanded either a fare hike or subsidy for them.

According to them, it is not economically viable to run buses with 60 per cent capacity as has been fixed by the government to check the spread of coronavirus. Further, the rate of diesel has gone up, they added. The opposition Congress and CPI(M) opposed the hike in bus fares.

The cabinet also gave its nod to withdraw the facility of free travel to members of parliament (MPs) and members of legislative assemblies (MLAs) in the HRTC buses within and outside the state, he said adding that this facility would continue for all former MLAs and MPs. Meanwhile, the cabinet also decided to take over Lala Jagat Narain Himotkarsh Kanya Mahavidyalaya Kotla Khurd in Una district by the government along with services of eligible teaching and non-teaching staff of the college as per extant policy.

The Industries department made a presentation before the cabinet on 'Ease of Doing Business'. It stressed on development of online system for 46 services to facilitate the entrepreneurs and improve the ease of doing business in the state, he said adding that the cabinet directed the department to move on all points of reforms in a time-bound manner. Information and Technology department presented the hardware for e-Cabinet and the cabinet authorised the department to go ahead for purchase of 16 workstations. It was decided that the third-party security audit should be done for maintaining confidentiality, he added.