Centre suggests automatic bus fare revision in States
To remove the intervention of political bosses’ in deciding bus fare, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways has suggested the automatic fare revision in all tate government run public transport companies depending on the increase in fuel and wage costs.
“A mechanism should be adopted to empower the State Road Transport Undertaking (SRTU) to undertake fare revision automatically, depending on the increase in fuel and wage costs,” says Ministry in its working group report prepared for the 12 five year plan.
To enable the transport companies to fix the fares on their own as per the market driven economy, the Ministry recommended amendment of Road Transport Act 1950, under which SRTUs are registered.
The SRTUs carry around seven crore passengers per day and have around 1.4 lakh buses. However their financial conditions are poor due to the fare not being revised according to the increase in fuel prices and wage expenditure following frequent intervention by the state governments. As per the Ministry data, the SRTUs recorded a net loss of Rs 5,260 crore on revenue of Rs 31,651 crore in 2010-11.
The Ministry also recommended procuring around 85,000 buses so SRTUs could provide better access to public transportation in rural areas. Of the total buses 35,000 buses to be provided for SRTUs to replace old buses, the rest will be new buses to connect interior areas, says the proposal.
The proposal is on the lines of the JNNURM (Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission) plan of Urban Development Ministry, which funded 17,000 buses for different city transport companies.
Of the 5.93 lakh inhabited villages in India, only about a third (1.83 lakh) are connected by organised SRTUs.
