Bus, taxi fares hiked in West Bengal

Fares of buses, minibuses and taxis were on Wednesday increased by the West Bengal government following long-pending demands by the operators.

The increase would be Rupee 1 from 3 kms to 16 kms for buses and minibuses and Rs 3 for taxis.

The minimum fare of buses and minibuses would now be Rs 5 and Rs 6 respectively and increase by Rupee 1 in each stage thereafter.

Bus fare in districts would be at the rate of ten paise per km, while that of long-distance ones would increase considerably.

The minimum taxi fare would increase from Rs 22 to Rs 25 following the hike.

The decision was taken after a Group of Ministers for the Transport Sector recommended the fare hike to Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, Industry Minister Partha Chatterjee said.

"The decision was taken considering the demands by operators in the transport sector following increase in price of diesel and spare parts," he said.

An indefinite strike called by operators of 60,000 private buses, the mainstay of public transport in the state, in early October was postponed till October 29 following a meeting between the chief minister and transport operators.

The Joint Council of Bus Syndicate had called an indefinite strike earlier from October 9.

The Bengal Taxi Association, had also resorted to a two-day strike.

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