Hike in bus fares challenged

CHENNAI: A public interest writ petition has been filed in Madras High Court challenging the recent hike in bus fares in the State. Social activist “Traffic” K R Ramaswamy, the petitioner, on Monday made a mention before a division bench headed by Justice Elipe Dharma Rao, which said that it would take up the petition for hearing today.The PIL prayed for a direction to the Transport Secretary and the MTC managing director to operate a minimum of 50 per cent of the total number of buses with ordinary fares. Petitioner contended the poor people and students were affected because of the steep hike ranging from 30 to 40 per cent.