BENGALURU: Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, the North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation, and North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation will hike bus fares by 12 per cent with immediate effect, according to a circular from the Under Secretary, Transport Department. 
In a statement, chief traffic manager, KSRTC said “The previous fare revision was on May 2014. There is a steep increase of high-speed diesel rates in international market. The high speed diesel oil price has increased by Rs 11.27 per litre since the last revision of bus fares.”

The dearness allowance increase to employees has been factored in for fare revision which will be Rs 340.38 crore. Overall increase in operational cost is Rs 601.21 crore per annum, the corporation said.
To offset the financial burden, fares have been hiked. There will be no increase of fares on passes issued to students and differently-abled persons. In non-AC buses, fares for first 3 km has been reduced from Rs 7 to Rs 5.

“In ordinary services, the fares for the first 12 and 15 kilometeres is not increased. In Express services, the fares for the first 6 kilometers is not increased,” the manager added.Former chief minister H D Kumaraswamy said it was unfortunate the government raised fares instead of looking into why corporations are incurring losses.