Bus rides in Karnataka to get expensive as Congress-led govt hikes fares by 15%

The bus rides in Karnataka are going to get expensive in the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah-led government as the state Karnataka cabinet on 2 January decided to increase the government bus fares by 15 per cent, PTI quoted Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H K Patil as saying. 

Citing the reason for the hike, Patil said the decision was taken in view of the substantial hike in operational costs such as increase in spending on fuel prices and staff. 

"The cabinet has decided to revise the bus fare of the four state transport corporations of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), North West Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC), Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC) and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) by 15 per cent,” PTI quoted Patil as saying.

He added, “With this increase, there will be a return of ₹74.84 crores every month...The new fare will be applicable from the 5th of January.”

Patil stated that the last time there was a hike state-owned transport corporations' bus fares took place on 10 January 2015 when the diesel prices were ₹60.90 per litre.

Justifying the hike, Patil said, “The daily diesel consumption was ₹9.16 crore 10 years ago by the four corporations, which has now increased to ₹13.21 crore. The expenditure on staff in these four corporations was ₹12.95 crore daily, which has increased to ₹18.36 crore daily. Hence the revision was necessary.”

On 'Shakti' scheme:

Meanwhile, the minister added that the 'Shakti' guarantee will continue. As per the details, the scheme 'Shakti' offers free ride to women in state-owned non-luxury buses across the state.

The scheme was launched on 11 June 2023, and was among the five flagship guarantee initiatives introduced by the Congress government after assuming office.

Other decisions:

Announcing other updates, Patil noted that the state government has cleared all the Provident Funds dues to the tune of ₹2,000 crore. Regarding the decision, he said, “We discussed the hike between 13 per cent and 15 per cent and the cabinet arrived at a decision of 15 per cent looking at the prices prevailing in Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Maharashtra. After the rise by 15 per cent, we will be lesser than any of these states.”

With agency inputs.