Angered over the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI)’s abject disregard to the agreement of toll tax relaxation for stage carriages and maintaining distance gaps between two toll gates as per norms, the bus operators have announced that they would not pay toll tax from August 24.
The private bus operators have been fighting against the steep rates at which toll tax is collected by the NHAI from different gates on the NH-5 passing through the State since 2008. The operators have accused the NHAI of going back on its promises made in repeated meeting convened at the highest level of the Government including that by the Chief Secretary.
According to the All Odisha Bus Owners Association, the buses have to pay between ` 250 and ` 300 as toll fees per gate every day. And with almost every bus having to cross at least two gates per trip, the amount paid daily is to the tune of ` 500 to ` 700.
“With the amount not being factored into the passenger fares, the operators are facing serious problems due to the sizeable expenses incurred by them. In a bid to find a middle path suiting both the operators and NHAI, the Government had convened meetings with the authority and proposed a fixed ` 1,000 monthly charges for stage carriages irrespective of the number of gates they pass through. This was agreed upon not only by NHAI authorities here but also the Union Transport Secretary during his meeting with the Chief Secretary on the issue. However, the resolutions are yet to be implemented, Association general secretary Debendra Sahoo said. The operators have also alleged the five gates between Laxmannath gate bordering West Bengal and Icchapuram gate bordering Andhra Pradesh are at distances less than 60 km from each other in violation of NHAI Act 2009, which stipulates a minimum of 60 km between two gates. The rules also entail that toll gates should not be within 10 km of any municipal limits but the one at Gangapada is 5 km from Khurda municipality and the one at Manguli is 5 km from Choudwar, Sahoo stated.
“The NHAI has been undermining the State Government by even refusing to respond to the letters of the Chief Secretary for implementation of the resolution. We, thus have no option but to take to the stir,” Sahoo said.
Capital, Puri City Bus Fares Hiked
Express News Service
Bhubaneswar: The Housing and Urban Development Department officially hiked the fare structure of the city bus on Monday.
The hike in the fare structure will be effective in Bhubaneswar and Puri where the Bhubaneswar-Puri Transport Services Limited (BPTSL) operates its buses. BPTSL has been demanding a fare hike for quite some time, due to the rising fuel costs. Even though the fare structure of the private buses was reportedly hiked, there was no hike in fare in the city buses.
This is the first hike in the city bus fare and is a welcome change for the BPTSL officials. The first four slabs with three kilometre each from zero to 12 km, the fare has been hiked by ` 1.
The next three slabs with three km each, from 12 km to 21 km, the increase is ` 2. The fare for 21 km to 24 km had been hiked by ` 3, 24 km to 27 km and 27 km to 30 km has been hiked by ` 4 and above 30 km by ` 3. The revised fare structure came into effect on Monday.
This is the first fare hike of the city buses due to the rising fuel prices.
The first four slabs with 3 km each from zero to 12 km, the fare has been hiked
by `1.
The next three slabs with 3 km each, from 12 km to 21 km, the fare has been hiked by`2.
The fare above 30 km has been increased
by `3.
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