Bhubaneswar: The decline in diesel prices has encouraged the state government to reduce bus costs from various categories on Saturday.
This will make bus rates a little cheaper in the state compared to before.
Official notifications issued by the State Transport Authority said the bus rates have declined due to the price reduction per liter of diesel from Rs 102.34 on October 16 to Rs 91.61 as on Saturday.
This has caused prices to fall with the same amount as Rs 10.73 in Direct and Rs 10.56 in the cumulative (including carryover), he added.
The regular and express category bus rates are reduced by five Paise per kilometer while the Deluxe and Deluxe Bus rates decrease by 10 Paise per kilometer.
The super premium category bus rates have been reduced by 15 Paise per km.
The usual bus will burden 87 Paise per km compared to the previous tariff of 92 Paise per km, while the Express Bus will burden 91 Paise per km with the previous rate of 96 Paise per km.
Similarly, Deluxe and AC Deluxe bus fares have been reduced to Rs 1.25 per km and each Rs 1.53 per km.
For super premium buses, passengers must pay Rs 2.38 per km with the previous level of Rs 2.53 per km.
If a passenger wants to travel Rourkela from Bhubaneswar (around 335km) on an ordinary bus, he needs to pay Rs 291 from Saturday and so on with the previous rates of RS 308.
This rate is now Rs 305 for Deluxe, RS 419 for Deluxe Category, Rs 513 for AC Deluxe and Bus Category Super Premium RS 797.
Debendra Sahu, Secretary General of the Association of Personal Bus Owners, said the bus rates have declined according to the mechanism of revising automatic rates.
“Bus rates increase by one Paisa for each rise of Rs 2 in the price of fuel.
It also functions to turn around if the diesel price is reduced,” he added.
He told the center and the state government had to reduce excise tax and VAT on diesel to reduce gasoline and diesel prices further for the benefit of ordinary people.
On October 16, ordinary and express category bus fares were enhanced by three Paise per kilometer while deluxe and AC Deluxe bus rates increased by six Paise per kilometer.
The super premium category bus rates have been upgraded by nine Paise per km.