Gurugram bus service cuts fare, new price applicable within the week

Gurugram’s city bus service was launched on September 2 and the authorities decided to cut fare after complaints from commuters.

One month after its launch on September 2, the Gurugaman city bus service has reduced ticket prices in response to multiple complaints from commuters.

Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus seen at Sector 10, on Friday, September 28, 2018. (Parveen Kumar / HT Photo)

Now, instead of paying ₹10 for up to five stops, passengers can travel double the distance (10 stops) for the same amount. The decision was taken at a board meeting of the Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Ltd. on September 29 and made public on Monday.

The digital Gurugaman card, launched on Friday, will also provide discounts of ₹2 on every trip, making the minimum fee for a journey of up to 10 stops ₹3.

GMCBL general manager Arun Sharma said, “We have received multiple complaints from passengers that the ticket price was too high. We also got the same feedback from our bus conductors.”

GMCBL officials, however, did not say when the revised fares would come into effect. “We have communicated the same to the agency looking after ticketing. It will be done within this week itself,” Sharma said.

Asked if the reduction will affect the GMCBL’s revenue adversely, Sharma said that the company is likely to make up for the revenue thus lost with volume. He said that the revised fares would encourage more people to travel by bus, which in turn would offset the GMCBL’s lost revenue.

The revised prices put Gurugaman on par with GMCBL’s primary competition, i.e. the intermediate public transport of the informal kind, such as shared autos and cabs that ply along the same route. Any of these modes of transport charge between ₹8 and ₹10 per trip per person.