The Haryana government on Thursday decided to effect a 15 to 20 paisa hike in ordinary bus fares per person for every kilometre of travel to partially meet the increased cost of public transport operation.
The decision to effect the hike was taken in a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister M L Khattar after the cost of running a bus per kilometre was assessed to have gone up to Rs 52.23 in December 2019 from its June 2016 level of Rs 37.48.
The Cabinet also approved a partial restoration of VAT rates on sale of diesel and petrol after a fall of nearly Rs 15 per litre in their prices compared to those in October 2018.
The Cabinet decided to raise the fare at a time when public transport buses are off roads due to the coronavirus-triggered lockdown.
This increase is much below the 25 and 20 percents raise carried out respectively in 2010-11 and 2012-13, an official statement said.
It added the bus fares for ordinary, standard category of buses would be increased from 85 paisa per kilometre to Rs 1 per km up to a distance of 100 kilometres and to Rs 1.05 per km for travel beyond that distance.
Even after this increase, the bus fare in Haryana shall continue to be lower than those in neighbouring states of Punjab, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh, Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh, it said.
The statement added that bus fares per person per km on plain roads in these states varied from Rs 1.06 to 1.116, while on hilly roads they ranged between Rs 1.75 and Rs 1.80 on hilly roads.
The bus fare in Haryana was last revised on June 30, 2016, when it was raised from 75 paisa per passenger, per km to 85 paisa per passenger per km.
Since the last revision, the operational expenditure has increased substantially, especially on account of expenditure towards staff, diesel, spare parts etc, the statement said.
The increase in cost of operation is roughly to the extent of 40 percent. As a result of the increased costs, Haryana Roadways is operating with heavy losses and the loss in the current financial year has been to the tune of Rs 726.21 crore up to the month of January 2020 itself, it said.
The state has also expanded the scope of welfare activities and there are 41 categories of passengers who are travelling either free or on concessional fares, the statement said, adding around Rs 375 crore is incurred to provide free or concessional travelling.
The fare for luxury buses would be increased between Rs 1.50 to Rs 1.75 per passenger per km.
Haryana Roadways has a fleet of around 4,294 buses and run around 10.38 lakh km on a daily basis, carrying 9.65 lakh people daily.
In another decision, the state government also approved partial restoration of VAT on sale of diesel and petrol.
The increase in rate of tax would be Rs 1 per litre for petrol and Rs 1.10 per litre for diesel.
Haryana had reduced VAT on diesel and petrol by Rs 2.50 per litre in October 2018 as on that rate, the cost of diesel and petrol had gone up to Rs 76.11 and Rs 84.19 per litre respectively.
Now, when the rate has come down by nearly Rs 15 per litre in case of both diesel and petrol, the state has decided to partly restore the VAT rates on them, the statement said.
As the proposed amendments, the rate of tax will be restored to 25 percent (effective rate 26.25 percent including surcharge) on petrol and 16.40 percent (effective rate 17.22 percent including surcharge) on diesel, that is pre-October, 4, 2018 levels.
In another decision, the Haryana Cabinet also decided to impose one percent market fee on sale of fruits and vegetables in mandis.
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