PATNA: Hundreds of autorickshaw and bus drivers in Patna staged a protest march against the continuous rise in petrol and diesel prices and its cascading effects on the other essential commodities.
The protesters, under the banner of All India Road Transport Workers Federation (AIRTF), Bihar, pulled autorickshaws with ropes and rode tongas from S K Memorial Hall to Kargil Chowk near Gandhi Maidan to highlight the soaring prices of fuel.
They demanded that fuel should be brought under the Goods and Services Tax (GST) ambit to bring uniformity across the country and reduce the prices of petroleum products.
Petrol in Patna was at Rs93.52/litre while diesel price climbed up to Rs86.79/litre on Tuesday. The bus, truck and auto owners and drivers are now mulling to increase the fare, saying every day hike in fuel prices had left them with no other choice.
General secretary of AIRTF and Bihar State Autochalak Sangh, Raj Kumar Jha, said they have proposed 15-25% fare hike on different routes from Wednesday (March 3). “We have already submitted the proposal to the state government and the transport department. A meeting with the regional transport officer was also held in mid-February. However, they have not taken any decision yet. We are suffering revenue losses due to frequent hikes in the diesel and petrol prices,” he said.
Bihar Motors Transport Federation (BMTF) has also decided to increase the fare by 25% from March 14 midnight. The federation has sent letters to CM Nitish Kumar, transport minister Sheela Kumari, secretary, transport commissioner and divisional commissioners on Monday after a meeting with bus and truck operators on February 28.
BMTF president Uday Shankar Singh said rise in fuel prices is taking toll on the bus and truck operators. “They have not recovered from the Covid- 19 lockdown and the rise in petrol and diesel prices and road tax has increased the burden on their income. In 2002, the government had allowed the federation to increase the fare on their own as per the rise and fall in fuel prices. The price chart was last revised in 2018. The transport fare would go up by 25% from March 14 midnight,” he said.
Transport secretary Sanjay Kumar Agarwal told this newspaper that the department has received the request letter from different associations and it is being examined as per the departmental procedure. “There is a process to increase the fare. If the auto or bus owners increase fare on their own, action will be taken against them,” he said.
Ajay Kumar, manager of a fuelling station near Dak Bungalow crossing, said the petrol and diesel prices in the state were last increased on February 27. “Fuel prices have been going up on a daily basis, post-Covid lockdown. The government increased the fuel prices after every 3-4 days. The petrol and diesel sales have minutely been impacted due to hike in prices,” he said.