After six years, Tamil Nadu hikes bus fares steeply

CHENNAI: With government transport corporations struggling to overcome losses and finding it difficult to even pay what is due to its serving and retired employees, Tamil Nadu Government on Friday announced a steep hike in government and private bus fares, ranging from 20 per cent to 55 per cent.

The hike that would have come into effect on Saturday morning was long overdue. The Government has not increased the bus fare since 2011 though neighbouring states have been allowing periodic hikes. The previous hike had come in November 2011 when J Jayalalithaa was the chief minister.

The hike will come as a blessing in disguise for the heavily loss-making transport corporations that have earned notoriety for not even paying its retired employees their dues.

The government also announced a much-needed a rational measure as it appointed a group of officers to periodically look into the diesel prices and other costs to decide on fare hikes in the future.

 Almost all the neighbouring states have such committees that decide the fare hikes as and when input costs increase.

Though the steep increase will increase the burden on people, experts said the hike was necessary to surmount the losses the bleeding transport corporations have been accumulating over the years. 

All transport corporations put together have debts to the tune of a whopping Rs 16,000 crores though they have mortgaged all assets including depots, buildings and even buses that ply on the road.

bus fare

While the minimum fare of Chennai Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) has been increased from Rs 3 to Rs 5, the maximum will now be Rs 23 from the present Rs 14. For town buses, the fares range between Rs 5 and Rs 23.

Similarly, fares on the mofussil buses have increased by Rs 1 for 10 km and the rest, range between Rs 24 to Rs 51 for 30 kilometers. 

Volvo and air-conditioned buses have seen an exponential increase in fares as they are said to be fuel-guzzling vehicles. Even after the increase, the fares are lower than what they are in neighbouring states of Kerala, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

The much-needed transport fare hike came a week after the 7-day transport strike by the employees of transport unions demanding wage revision and clearance of retirement and provident fund dues ended. While announcing the fare hike, the Tamil Nadu Government attributed the increase in fare to hike in fuel charges, maintenance cost and operational cost among others.

“The fuel price has almost increased by 50 per cent and the losses per day stand at '9 crore. With almost 75 per cent of the buses being more than six years old, the performance has come down by a huge margin, adding to the woes”, the release said.

Also, the tollgate fund which was initially borne by the transport corporations would now be included in the ticket charges, like other states. Currently, the government is paying Rs 12 crore per month for tollgate.

Mixed reactions from public
The impromptu bus fare hike in Tamil Nadu, which came as a shocker has received a mixed reaction from the public.

Although the hike has come after continuous protests by transport employees seeking their dues, major political parties have reacted suddenly and condemned the transport department's move. However, commuters, at the receiving end, are more disappointed.

 “Common man has been in lots of troubles for over a few years as the prices of every basic need increased. The bus fare hike would worsen our situation. Although the hike is small, it will add to the monthly budget of middle-class families,” G. Arun Kumar, a private employee said.

 Arun Kumar also said that the government is using public apathy over various issues. “People had never questioned the increase of petrol and diesel prices. So, the government has no problem with increasing prices of basic amenities,” he added.

 Meanwhile, U. Subash Kumar, an entrepreneur, said that people should understand the fact that the price of diesel is increasing on the day-to-day basis. “They should also accept the bus fare hike because Tamil Nadu's bus fare is still low when compared to other states. Change of mindset is a must,” he added.

However, many passengers raised concerns over the immediate effect of the fare revision. “The government should have given breathing time to the passengers. When new fare is implemented from midnight, many travelling at night would have caught off guard,” said N. Sundararajan, a private employee.

He also said that the government has collected increased fares already in the name of limited stop services and point-to-point services and reducing normal services. “This is not a surprise and the only difference is they have made an announcement,” he added.