School bus fee to go up from October

With diesel prices in the city being hiked by Rs5 a litre from Thursday midnight, school bus fees hike by 5% to 10% was imminent.

The school bus operators have decided to hike fees from October 1.

On Friday, the School Bus Owners’ Association (SBOA) announced that the school bus fees will go up by at least Rs30 to Rs50 a month.

Parents and parent-teachers forums have opposed the hike as this is the second bus fee hike within a year. In June, bus fees were hiked by Rs200 to Rs800 (depending on the operator). “We will hike the school bus fee from October1 across Maharahstra. For small buses of 20-25 seats, the increase would be Rs50 a month. For 50-ssater buses, the hike would be Rs30 a month,” said Anil Garg, president of the SBOA, that has nearly 1,000 buses plying in the city. 

Garg said that with the diesel price hike, the monthly expenses on fuel will go up by more than Rs2,200. “Currently, one school bus requires a fuel of Rs800. We don’t have an option but to pass on the burden to parents,” he said.

A parents’ association said the fee hike cannot be valid unless approved by the school bus committee of bus operator, principal, PTA members and a RTO official.  “Bus operators must wait for a few days as the other parties are preparing to protest. The operators have no right to take a decision on their own,’’ said Jayant Jain, president of Forum For Fairness.