Kolkata, June 29 (IANS) Bus operators in West Bengal Tuesday met state Transport Minister Ranjit Kundu and demanded a fare-increase in view of the fuel price hike.
‘Today (Tuesday) we had a meeting with the transport minister and have placed our demand. The state government has to either increase the bus fares or slash the taxes it has imposed on diesel. We have given 10 days’ time to him to decide,’ Trinamool Congress legislator and Bengal Bus Syndicate president Swarnokamal Saha said.
‘If it doesn’t happen, we will take the necessary action,’ he said.
‘We have given the estimation of price escalation to the transport minister and have told him to fix the price based on that. He has asked for 10 days,’ said Sadhan Das of the Joint Council of Bus Syndicate.
‘The monthly expenditure for running the buses has increased to a large extent,’ Das said.
The central government Friday agreed to decontrol the price of petrol, which meant an increase of at least Rs.3.50 per litre in most metro cities. It also hiked the prices of diesel by Rs.2 a litre, kerosene by Rs.3 a litre and cooking gas by Rs.35 per cylinder.
