Kolkata: Arbitrary private bus fares which have been dogging passengers in Kolkata may increase further.
The number of private buses on city’s roads decreased further on Tuesday with operators threatening another unofficial fare revision in the next few days.
With the government asking commuters to report “additional fares” to police even though now tickets with the higher fares are being printed and issued all over Kolkata, passengers seem to be the sufferers all over again.
“The writing is on the wall — it is the passengers who will pay through their nose for managing to find a bus after waiting for long durations. The moment we protest, the owners will say they will take the remaining buses off the roads. The government has already reduced its own fleet to around half its original strength. Everyone is busy passing the buck to another even as we suffer. The government should look at the evening buses. There is hardly any space to step into a Behala bus from Esplanade,” said Kalyan Chowdhury, who travels between Shyambazar and Behala daily.
The present “unofficial” fares are Rs 10 for the first 4km, Rs 15 for the next 8km and Rs 20 for 4km thereafter. At least two minibus unions claimed talks are on to increase fares “unofficially” yet again. “There are two proposals. We might charge Rs 12 as minimum fare. But we might keep the minimum fare at Rs 10 to compete with autos but reduce the distance applicable to only 2 km,” he said.
Swapan Ghosh, joint secretary of the Minibus Operators Coordination Committee, said they have already seen another 10% bus reduction on specific routes on Tuesday. He accepted that a fare revision was being discussed but refused to go into details. “The government thinks it is not necessary. But we need to survive,” he stated. There are just four buses plying between Joka and Ruby now and another four between Sakherbazar and Howrah. Even after the pandemic, eight to 10 buses were plying on these two routes, said Ghosh.
With barely 40%-50% buses of the pre-Covid times plying, a section of drivers, including government ones, are getting away by short-terminating routes. “Route 235 is terminating at Sealdah instead of Salt Lake, route C-26 is terminating at Kamalgazi instead of Baruipur and Anandapur mini to Sarada Park is terminating at Sakherbazar. How can bus owners ask for fare revisions and the government turn a blind eye when such aberrations take place?” asked Gautam Hazra, another commuter.
“Our officers will look into the complaint. As minister Hakim has stated, passengers can approach us or police with specific complaints,” said a transport department official.
Tapan Banerjee of Joint Council of Bus Syndicates said: “We have written a letter to minister Firhad Hakim demanding state intervention. We want a fare regulatory committee to recommend fare revisions.”
The number of private buses on city’s roads decreased further on Tuesday with operators threatening another unofficial fare revision in the next few days.
With the government asking commuters to report “additional fares” to police even though now tickets with the higher fares are being printed and issued all over Kolkata, passengers seem to be the sufferers all over again.
“The writing is on the wall — it is the passengers who will pay through their nose for managing to find a bus after waiting for long durations. The moment we protest, the owners will say they will take the remaining buses off the roads. The government has already reduced its own fleet to around half its original strength. Everyone is busy passing the buck to another even as we suffer. The government should look at the evening buses. There is hardly any space to step into a Behala bus from Esplanade,” said Kalyan Chowdhury, who travels between Shyambazar and Behala daily.
The present “unofficial” fares are Rs 10 for the first 4km, Rs 15 for the next 8km and Rs 20 for 4km thereafter. At least two minibus unions claimed talks are on to increase fares “unofficially” yet again. “There are two proposals. We might charge Rs 12 as minimum fare. But we might keep the minimum fare at Rs 10 to compete with autos but reduce the distance applicable to only 2 km,” he said.
Swapan Ghosh, joint secretary of the Minibus Operators Coordination Committee, said they have already seen another 10% bus reduction on specific routes on Tuesday. He accepted that a fare revision was being discussed but refused to go into details. “The government thinks it is not necessary. But we need to survive,” he stated. There are just four buses plying between Joka and Ruby now and another four between Sakherbazar and Howrah. Even after the pandemic, eight to 10 buses were plying on these two routes, said Ghosh.
With barely 40%-50% buses of the pre-Covid times plying, a section of drivers, including government ones, are getting away by short-terminating routes. “Route 235 is terminating at Sealdah instead of Salt Lake, route C-26 is terminating at Kamalgazi instead of Baruipur and Anandapur mini to Sarada Park is terminating at Sakherbazar. How can bus owners ask for fare revisions and the government turn a blind eye when such aberrations take place?” asked Gautam Hazra, another commuter.
“Our officers will look into the complaint. As minister Hakim has stated, passengers can approach us or police with specific complaints,” said a transport department official.
Tapan Banerjee of Joint Council of Bus Syndicates said: “We have written a letter to minister Firhad Hakim demanding state intervention. We want a fare regulatory committee to recommend fare revisions.”