Private Buses Not Following Fare Fixed By State: Transport Department Submits Affidavit In High Court

 The State Transport department submitted an affidavit in the Calcutta High Court with regards to the case pertaining to private buses charging their own fares while disregarding the fare fixed by the state.

The Special Secretary of the Transport department Anindya Sengupta had submitted an affidavit with this regard. The case will be next heard in January. A few days ago, the state had filed an affidavit before the Division Bench of Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj. The Transport department had claimed that no extra fare was being charged.

The Special Secretary of the Transport department informed the court that all the district magistrates of the state and all the regional authorities of the transport department have been instructed to take strict action in cases of complaint on excessive fare.

It was decided that private buses in the state will charge the fare fixed by the state government to ensure that no excess fare will be charged. A PIL was filed in the High Court with the complaint of private buses charging their own fare. During the initial phase of the pandemic, the movement of buses were stopped for many days. It had been reported that the income of landlords, bus drivers and bus workers had decreased. With increase in fuel cost, it was claimed that the earning of the private buses had hit a rock bottom. MPOST