TEAM HERALD
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PANJIM: With rise in diesel prices, the private bus owners in the state have pulled up their sleeves demanding hike in ticket fares by almost 100 percent.
In a State Transport Authority (STA) meeting, held on Tuesday, the All Goa Private Bus Owners Association (AGPBOA) has demanded hike in fares from existing Rs 5 for the first three kilometers to Rs 10. For the subsequent kilometer the association has demanded 10 paisa hike that is from existing 75 paisa to 85 paisa.
Sources confirmed that Principal Secretary R K Varma, who chairs STA, has asked bus owners to make a proper representation justifying their demand.
Director of Transport Arun Desai was not available for the comment.
AGPBOA general secretary Sudip Tamankar said that the fare hike is imminent as the costs including of diesel and spare parts have gone up. “The diesel prices are increasing almost every month and so do out expenditure. We want that for the first three kilometer the fair should be Rs 10 and 85 paise per subsequent km,” he said.
The bus owners in October, 2012 had submitted its proposal to Directorate of Transport demanding 100 percent fare hike.
The bus fares were last hiked in November 2011 where for the first three kilometers it was hiked from Rs 3 to Rs 5.
Meanwhile no decision on increasing the number of seats for women in buses was taken as the issue did not come up for the meeting. The transport department was working on a proposal to reserve rows for women in buses and the same was suppose to be pass by STA.
The decision on installation of CCTV cameras, Global Positioning System (GPS), ID cards for conductors and drivers and display of board on buses with all basic information including helpline number was also not taken.
