You’ll have to pay higher bus fares in Navi Mumbai from Wednesday

However, the air-conditioned bus fare has been reduced to attract commuters who use cab aggregators

People who live and/or work in Navi Mumbai will have to pay more to travel by buses from Wednesday when the civic body-run Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport’s (NMMT) hike comes into effect.

While the rate for travel up to 12 km will remain unchanged in regular buses, beyond it, there will be a hike of Re 1 for the first stage, and up to Rs 6 for up to 40 km. (HT File Photo/ Used for representational purpose)

The NMMT has raised the price of tickets for its regular buses, following a go-ahead from the Mumbai Metropolitan Region Transport Authority (MMRTA). The move is being initiated to cut the NMMT’s monthly losses, which touch around Rs3.5 crore.

While the rate for travel up to 12 km will remain unchanged in regular buses, beyond it, there will be a hike of Re 1 for the first stage, and up to Rs 6 for the 20th stage (of up to 40 km). The minimum fare on regular buses will stay the same at Rs7.

NMMT general manager Shirish Aradwad said: “Everything, from the cost of fuel, employee salaries, bus repair and maintenance to accidents, insurance, bus cleaning and toll tax have gone up. The transport body is incurring huge losses because of this.”

Aradwad said the NMMT has also been losing passengers in the AC bus service segment besides incurring high input and maintenance costs. “It’s an issue as other options such as Ola and Uber are available to commuters, which offer low fares,” he said.

In August 2017, the NMMT proposed a fare hike for regular buses and a reduction in AC bus fares. After the proposal was approved by the transport body committee and the Navi Mumbai Municipal Corporation’s general body, it was sent to the government for sanction. “The sanction was given at the MMRTA meeting on January 19. We will implement the hike from February 7,” Aradwad said.