Bus fare hike: HC imposes fine of Rs 10K on state govt

KOLKATA: The Calcutta High Court on Wednesday imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the state government in Public Interest Litigation (PIL) on bus fare hike.

The court's division bench also raised questions on the delay in presenting an affidavit stating the rules in the state for charging bus fare. The PIL was heard by Division Bench Chief Justice Prakash Shrivastava and Justice Rajarshi Bharadwaj.

The plea also included the issue of no uniformity in private bus fares as some private bus operators were charging Rs 10 as minimum fare in different routes without the approval from the state transport department.

The High Court had earlier asked for a report from the state transport department on three issues. They demanded a reply on whether the private buses are charging the fare according to the government's fixed fare chart, whether the fare list was being posted on all the buses and the steps taken to receive passenger's complaints. The department failed to submit the report in the given time period.

According to Rule 175 of the West Bengal Motor Vehicle Act (1989), passengers can register their complaints however most buses do not have any complaint books.

The private bus owners' associations strongly advocated for raising the minimum bus fare from Rs 7 to Rs 10. The state government was not in favour of this increase, especially as the common people suffered during the Covid-19 pandemic.

In the end, the association remained adamant and raised the fare.