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Our Bureau

Mangalore , Aug. 11

PRIVATE bus operators in Dakshina Kannada district have sought a 25 per cent increase in bus fares following the increase in diesel price.

Participating in a meeting called by the Dakshina Kannada Road Transport Authority (RTA) here on Wednesday, the President of the Dakshina Kannada Bus Operators' Association, Mr P. Bhaskar Salian, said that bus fares were last increased in December 2002.

The RTA had called for the meeting to elicit opinions of the public and bus operators on the hike.

Mr Salian said that diesel prices were revised 24 times from December 2002 to August 1, 2004. A litre of diesel costs Rs 7.25 more than what it used to cost in December 2002. In all, there has been an increase of 35 per cent in the price of diesel, he said. Added to this, the maintenance cost of buses has also gone by 20 per cent.

Stating that private bus owners are spending 75 per cent of their day's earnings on diesel, he requested the RTA to increase bus fares at least by 25 per cent.

Some of the citizens, who participated in the meeting, began comparing the services of private buses with that of the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC). Their argument was that fares in KSRTC buses were less than that of private buses. They felt that there should not be increase in bus fare in such a situation.

Taking exception to this argument, Mr Ravindra Maroli, former President of the association, said that the Government has extended many sops to KSRTC. But, that is not the case with the private operators. Stating that private bus owners were paying Rs 1.10 lakh as tax for a bus, he said only Rs 20,000 is levied as tax for a KSRTC bus.

After listening to the opinions of the public and bus owners, the President of RTA and Deputy Commissioner, Mr Aravind Srivastav, said that a suitable decision on bus fare revision would be taken soon. To some complaints regarding poor quality services in some private buses, he asked the owners to look into this aspect.

More Stories on : Trade & Labour Unions | Roadways | Karnataka

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