Bihar private transporters seek revision of passenger bus fares

Bihar Motor Transport Federation president Uday Shankar Singh said they have written to chief minister Nitish Kumar and chief secretary Tripurari Sharan on the issue. “We have sought the CM’s intervention to help us tide over this financial distress,” he said

Bihar’s private transporters have sought a revision in passenger bus fares from the state government amid the rising fuel prices.

Representational Image. (File photo)

“The last fare hike of private buses was in 2018 when fuel prices were much lower than the prevailing rates. Our business is not feasible anymore, with low footfall due to Covid, and high fuel rates,” said Uday Shankar Singh, president of Bihar Motor Transport Federation (BMTF), the apex union body of private transporters.

Singh said the BMTF had written to chief minister Nitish Kumar and chief secretary Tripurari Sharan on the issue. “We have sought the CM’s intervention to help us tide over this financial distress,” he said.

The BMTF president also took exception to the transport department’s recent drive to impose penalty on buses for demanding arbitrary fare. “Transporters are not charging excessive fare in general. But such action against them is only causing us more distress,” he said.

Singh said transporters will hold meetings in Patna and Begusarai on July 16 and July 18 respectively to chalk out their course of action in case fares are not revised. “ We might pull our vehicles off road as a last resort,” he added. Transport secretary Sanjay Kumar Agrarwal could not be reached for comments.