In Mumbai, school bus operators have decided to revise the old rates and hike the annual bus fee by 35-40 per cent. The revision of fees could be effective from June 1. As per the operators, the rise in costs of operations, fuel and overhead expenses have left with no option but to hike fees, reported a leading news daily.
School Bus Owners’ Association president Anil Garg told the news agency that the decision has been taken by keeping a lot of factors in view including in increase in fuel prices. He, however, asserted that increased fuel prices aren’t the only reason to take such a step.
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There are various other aspects such as repairing work in buses, preparing buses as per COVID-19 norms, receiving fitness certificates from the transport department, changing oil, tyres and so on. Everything needs to be revamped as they were unfunctional for the last two years which might have created issues with the vehicle.
Talking about the demands of the drivers, Garg emphasised the fact that there is a shortage of drivers which has made them increase their salaries. According to the news report, earlier, the average salary of a driver was Rs 14,000 per month which has now gone up to Rs 21,000.
Apart from this, the toll at Mumbai entry points has increased by Rs 3,570 per month by every bus. The diesel in Mumbai is currently Rs 105 a litre and CNG is Rs 72 per kg.
Schools are reopening in full swing after two years of getting affected by COVID-19. However, as students are all ready to step into the new academic session, the hike in bus fees is becoming a concern for parents.
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While the association is all set to raise the rates, parents are not quite happy with the decision as COVID-19 has impacted a lot of families financially. As the association is also expecting the parents to pay the annual fee, parents have a take that it’ll create a lot of burden on them. Meanwhile, parents are also worried about another Covid-19 wave may hit the city due to which they are not willing to pay for the whole year rather on a monthly or quarterly basis.
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