Daijiworld Media Network - Mangaluru (MS)
Mangaluru, Jul 7: The tax on diesel and petrol is hiked in the central budget that was presented on Friday. There is a possibility that the bus and auto fares may also increase because of this.
Petrol price has gone up by Rs 2.53 per liter in the city from Saturday. Diesel prices have also shot up by Rs 2.43 per liter. In addition to the fuel price, the prices of auto spare parts has also gone up, which does not augur well for the automobile industry and related businesses.
The ticket prices of city and private buses that are running in the city was last hiked a few years ago, when the diesel price was Rs 58 per liter. Last year the price was increased by one rupee for cess. Now the price has gone up further. However, it is not possible to hike the ticket fares of buses immediately. The City Bus Owners' Association has already submitted an appeal to the state government to increase the fares of tickets. Now the association had decided to send one more appeal. Only after the government takes out a notification, the prices can be increased.
The union of auto rickshaw owners and drivers has already submitted a memorandum to the deputy commissioner to hike the auto fare.
The vehicle users are having a tough time due to the increase in fuel prices. In addition, the prices of groceries and vegetables has also shot up, which is increasing the burden on the common man. On July 1, the price of petrol and diesel was Rs 72.11 per liter and Rs 65.76 per liter respectively. On July 2, the price went up by five paise for petrol and 40 paise for diesel. Then the same rate was prevailing till July 5. However, after the presentation of budget the prices of diesel and petrol have shot up further.
Dilraj Alva, president of City Bus Owners' association says, "The price of diesel and petrol is rising day by day. Even the cost of spare parts of vehicles has gone up. The bus owners are in trouble due to this. We had already submitted an appeal to the government to increase the fare. Now, we are going to submit one more appeal."
Sunil Kumar Bajal, district president of Auto Rickshaw drivers' union, sponsored by CITU said, "Since some years the fare of the auto rickshaws running in the city is not revised. We had already brought this to the notice of the deputy commissioner. Now as the price of petrol is increased further, we will appeal again. If our demands are not met, we will resort to protest in coming days."