Travelling in Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and private buses will be costly with the government giving its nod for increasing the minimum fare by 50%.
The fares for the subsequent km will be increased from 70 paise to ₹1.10.
With this, the minimum fare in the ordinary buses will go up from existing ₹8 to ₹12. The new fares for the subsequent stages will have to be worked out by the Transport Department and notified by the government in the gazette.
Official sources said the gazette notification was possible only on Tuesday and the services of the KSRTC and private buses would resume only on Wednesday.
The government also waived the motor vehicle tax of the buses in view of the operational loss that limited number of commuters following social distancing norms would bring about, Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan told a press conference. The fares in the services of Water Transport would go up by 33%.
To cut down operational loss, the Transport Department recommended doubling the fare in ordinary services. The proposal was to increase the existing minimum fare for 5 km from ₹8 to ₹16, and from ₹10 to ₹20, ₹12 to ₹24, ₹13 to ₹26, ₹15 to ₹30 and ₹17 to ₹34 in the subsequent fare stages. The KSRTC demanded ₹60.35 per km to overcome the loss of ₹11.65 per km to be incurred due to social distancing norms. But, the government decided to limit the hike to 50% of the minimum fare and increase the fares for the subsequent km from 70 paise to ₹ 1.10.
