Transport fare hike to be effective from Monday

Kolkata: The state Transport department has issued the notification of the increase in the fare of buses, trams, ferry services and taxis on Friday. The increase comes into effect from Monday.

It may be mentioned that the state government was compelled to give its nod to increase the fare due to the indifferent attitude of the Centre towards the steep hike in price of diesel.

The minimum bus and mini-bus fares would be Rs 7 and Rs 8 respectively. At the same time, the minimum fare for taxis will increase to Rs 30. One has to pay Rs 30 for the first 2 km and the fare for every additional 0.2 km would be Rs 3. The luggage charge would be Rs 5. In case of air-conditioned meter taxis, one had to pay 25 percent more compared to ordinary meter taxis.

For buses, a commuter has to pay a fare of Rs 7 for the first 4 km. The fare will be Rs 9 for next two slabs of four km while there will be an increase of Re 1 for every 4 km from 12 km onward up to 24 km.

In case of mini-buses or JNNURM buses, the minimum fare would be Rs 8 and there will be an increase of Re 1 for the next 3 km. One travelling in a mini-bus for 6 to 10 km will have to pay Rs 10 while for 10 to 16 km, the fare would be Rs 11. There has also been a hike in fares of buses and mini-buses that operate in the districts.

At the same time, one travelling in trams will have to pay Rs 6 for the first 4 km and the fare would increase by Re 1 if he travels beyond 4 km.

The fare for ferry services on River Hooghly has also increased. There will be a hike of Re 1 and the fare will be rounded off to the nearest rupee in all routes.