Mumbai: An 18 per cent hike in bus fares of the Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) will come into effect from Saturday. Earlier, MSRTC had said the hike would be effective from June 15, but a delay in getting the State Transport Authority (STA)’s approval, resulted in the fare hike being postponed by a day.
A senior official said the STA approved the hike on Friday stating the MSRTC’s financial burden has increased as a result of rising fuel prices and the revised salary agreement with labour unions.
Earlier, on June 6, while announcing the fare hike, state transport minister Diwakar Raote had said that MSRTC’s expenditure had increased by Rs 460 crore annually due to rising fuel prices. He had also informed that a recent wage hike for the undertaking’s employees had put an additional burden of Rs 4,849 crore on the corporation.
“If the passenger plans his journey from Dadar to Pune on an air-conditioned Shivneri bus, it will cost Rs 510 instead of Rs 430, and Rs 300 instead of Rs 253 on the Shivshahi bus,” said an official.
MSRTC is also planing to round off fares in multiples of Rs 5. This means that passengers will be charged Rs10, if the fare for a distance is Rs 8, but Rs 5, if the fare is Rs 7. “The corporation has taken this decision to avoid disputes between conductors and passengers over change,” said MSRTC official. The fare hike for state-owned public transport buses will also see private inter-city bus operators raise fares, as the state government recently allowed private bus operators to charge 50 per cent more than MSRTC buses. The transport undertaking has around 17,500 buses in its fleet and makes 56,756 trips every day. While it has an annual turnover of around Rs 7,000 crore, it also incurs losses to the tune of Rs 2 crore every day.