"The West Bengal government should increase the fares immediately as we will be unable to run buses because of the steep hike in fuel costs," Bengal Bus Syndicate secretary Swarnakamal Saha said here.
"We (members of the syndicate) will meet over the issue and decide on how much hike should be demanded to offset the increase in diesel price," he said.
At present, minimum fares for buses is Rs 4 and higher for minibuses and semi-deluxe buses. Bengal Taxi Association secretary Bimal Guha also demanded an increase of at least Rs 2at the initial stage of two km and 40p for every 200 metre thereafter.
Guha said fares had not been increased since October 2006 and it would be impossible to run their vehicles if it was not hiked.