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The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has revised bus fares across its network after receiving approval from the State Transport Authority. The increase has been attributed to higher diesel prices, rising employee-related expenses and increased maintenance costs. The revised fares came into effect from midnight earlier this week and apply across different categories of buses, with ordinary services witnessing a 13.56 per cent hike. Along with the fare revision, MSRTC has also withdrawn the seasonal surcharge on ordinary buses, a move expected to partly offset the impact on passengers.
The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) has increased bus fares across Maharashtra after the State Transport Authority (STA) approved a revised fare structure. The new fares came into effect from midnight earlier this week, with officials stating that the revision was necessary due to rising diesel prices, higher operating expenses and increasing maintenance costs.
According to MSRTC, the 13.56 per cent fare hike applies only to ordinary buses, while the increase for other categories of services differs based on the type of bus.
Under the revised fare structure, the fare for ordinary buses has been fixed at INR 11.40 per stage, while semi-luxury buses will charge INR 13.65 per stage. The fare for ordinary sleeper-seater buses has been revised to INR 15.50 per stage, and ordinary sleeper buses to INR 16.75 per stage.
For air-conditioned services, Shivshahi AC seater buses will charge INR 14.20 per stage, while Shivshahi AC sleeper buses have been priced at INR 15.35 per stage. Shivneri AC seater services will now cost INR 21.25 per stage, and Shivneri AC sleeper services INR 25.35 per stage.
MSRTC said the revised fare charts have been rounded off to the nearest multiple of INR 5 to simplify ticketing and cash transactions.
The corporation said fares for ordinary buses on major inter-city routes have increased by around INR 15 to INR 25. As part of the revision, the Mumbai–Satara fare has been increased from INR 498 to INR 555, Mumbai–Kolhapur from INR 730 to INR 755, Mumbai–Solapur from INR 705 to INR 800, Pune–Solapur from INR 454 to INR 480, and Nashik–Pune from INR 410 to INR 425.
MSRTC also announced the withdrawal of the existing 10 per cent seasonal fare hike for ordinary buses. The corporation had only recently extended the seasonal surcharge until the end of the month, but with the revised fare structure now in place, the additional seasonal increase will no longer be applicable.
The corporation stated that the fare revision was approved after considering the continued rise in diesel prices linked to geopolitical developments in the Gulf region, along with higher expenditure on employee allowances and increasing costs of spare parts, tyres and vehicle maintenance. It added that the revision is aimed at maintaining the financial sustainability of the state-run transport undertaking while ensuring uninterrupted public transport services.
Maharashtra Transport Minister and MSRTC Chairman Pratap Sarnaik said the fare revision had become unavoidable because of the steady increase in fuel prices, employee-related expenses and maintenance costs. He said the increase had been kept at the lowest possible level to reduce the burden on passengers while supporting the corporation's financial stability and continued operations.
Welcoming the decision, Maharashtra ST Employees Congress General Secretary Shrirang Barge said rounding ticket fares to the nearest multiple of INR 5 would address the long-standing issue of providing small change, making ticketing easier for both passengers and conductors.
MSRTC is among India's largest state-run public transport undertakings, operating a fleet of more than 14,000 buses and serving around 5.5 million passengers every day. The corporation has periodically revised fares over the years to manage rising operational costs while continuing to provide transport connectivity across urban, rural and remote regions of Maharashtra.
Source PTI
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