Revised bus, auto-rickshaw, taxi fares in Kerala to come into effect from May 1

PTI, Apr 20, 2022, 7:53 PM IST

Thiruvananthapuram: The revised rates for bus, auto-rickshaw and taxi fares would come into effect from May 1 in Kerala.

According to a state cabinet decision on Wednesday, the minimum fares for ordinary bus services, including city, town, city-circular and city-shuttle, would be Rs 10 from the earlier Rs 8.

Besides that, minimum bus fares of city fast services would be hiked from Rs 10 to Rs 12, for fast passenger and limited stop fast passenger, the minimum rates would be increased from Rs 14 to Rs 15 and for superfast from Rs 20 to Rs 22, the cabinet decided.

Express, super express, super air express, super deluxe / semi sleeper bus services, luxury / high-tech and air conditioned (AC) bus services, single axle services, multi-axle services and existing low-floor AC bus services will not see any increase in fares, it said.

The minimum fare of low floor non-AC bus services would be reduced to Rs 10 from the existing Rs 13 and that of AC sleeper services has been fixed at Rs 130.

The cabinet also decided to appoint a commission to look into the issue of hiking the student fares.

The cabinet decision also said the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) would be authorised to issue season tickets, for a period of one month or more, with discounts of up to 30 per cent of the general fare.

Besides bus services, revised fares of auto-rickshaw, taxi and quadricycles would also be in effect from May 1, the cabinet decision said.

The minimum auto-rickshaw fares from May 1 would be Rs 30 for 1.5 kilometres as against the existing rate of Rs 25 and thereafter, Rs 15 would be charged for every subsequent km as against the existing Rs 12 per km, it said.

Regarding taxi fares, the cabinet decision said that for cabs with engine capacity of less than 1,500 cc, the minimum rate would be Rs 200 for the first 5 km as against the existing rate of Rs 175 and thereafter, Rs 18 would be charged for every subsequent km as against the prevailing rate of Rs 15 per km.

For cabs with engine capacity of more than 1,500 cc, the minimum rate would be Rs 225 for the first 5 km as against the existing rate of Rs 200, and thereafter, Rs 20 would be charged for every subsequent km as against the prevailing rate of Rs 17 per km, it said.