PRTC to seek 20 percent hike in bus fare

Patiala, Jun 5 (UNI) Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) would seek 20 per cent hike in Bus fare due to rise in Diesel prices, Pepsu chief Manvesh Singh Sidhu said here today.

Addressing a news conference here, Mr Sidhu said that majority of expenditure part of the corporation was diesel and the recent steep hike will jeopardize the financial condition of the corporation.

He said that though final decision will be taken by the state government, ''we will put strong case for bus fare hike as presently the bus fare in the state was 49 paise per kilometer''.

Regarding the PRTC's financial condition, Mr Sidhu said that the operating profit of the Corporation had increased by Rs 744.71 lakh as compared to previous year.

PRTC has added 75 new buses in its sanctioned fleet strength of 1075 and planned to add 75 more ordinary buses named JAN SEWA and 25 AC buses in its own fleet during this year. In addition, about 100 new buses will also be hired under the KM Scheme, he said.

The Corporation operates 3.48 lakh Kms sanctioned Kms. per day and was providing its bus service on 553 routes including interstate routes.

UNI XC JN DB 1826