PRTC increases fare price by 2p/km

The Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) has hiked fares by 2 paise per km for both ordinary and air-conditioned buses.

This move will help enhance the daily earning of the PRTC, which has been reeling under a severe financial crisis, by about Rs 2 lakh.

This step is said to have been taken in the wake of increasing diesel prices. The corporation had hiked the bus fare by 5 paise in October.

Sources say as per the revised bus fares, the per km fare of an ordinary bus, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) bus, integral coach and super integral coach has been fixed at 116 paise, 139.2 paise, 208.80 paise and 232 paise, respectively.

The bus fare from Patiala to Chandigarh and Patiala to Delhi is being increased by around Rs 1.50 and Rs 5, respectively.

The sources say as many as 1,121 buses of the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation cover a distance of about 3.6 lakh km every day and require around 90,000 litres of diesel.

The corporation’s managing director, Gurlovleen Singh Sidhu, said, “Increase in diesel prices on a regular basis has hit the public transport sector hard. Additional revenue generated from bus fare hike will be of great help to narrow down the gap between PRTC’s income and expenses.”