Bus fares may go up in Himachal

If the Himachal Pradesh government accepts the latest proposal of the cash starved Himachal Roadways Transport Corporation (HRTC), bus fares could go up by 20 to 35 per cent in the hill state.

The state run HRTC was forced to prepare the new proposal of raising fares after the Union government recently raised the prices of petrol and diesel by Rs 4 and Rs 2 in the state, even though the state government decided not to impose Value Added Tax on the raised amount which brought down the prices down by Rs 1 for petrol and 28 paise for diesel.

The latest rise in oil prices is expected to further burden the HRTC by Rs 8 crore per annum if the fares are not raised.

While earlier the state roadways came up with proposals to raise prices on the flat rates formula basis, this time it has come up with slab rate formula.For a distance of 50 km, a 20 per cent hike is proposed.

This gradually goes up by 25 per cent for a distance of 100 to 150 km, and by a hefty 35 per cent for those travelling beyond 250 km.

The state government hasn't raised the passenger fares for three years even though the prices of diesel have gone up five times in this period. During this period the HRTC had moved similar proposals to hike fares but the state government dismissed them.

HRTC has a fleet of about 1,700 buses and in the near absence of railways and air transport, travelling by bus is the only major means of transport. Therefore, the government is always reluctant to raise the bus fares of HRTC.