Plan to slash bus fares by 75 per cent reaches Delhi L-G

New Delhi: In a move bound to provide relief to lakhs of commuters, the Delhi government has sent a file pertaining to reduction in fares of DTC and cluster buses by 75 per cent for approval to lieutenant governor Anil Baijal. The decision of slashing fares of the cash-strapped DTC, which has been running about Rs 1,200 crore annual losses, will be Mr Baijal’s first major decision as the L-G of Delhi. Deputy chief minister Manish Sisodia, who has been making serious efforts to boost the state government’s revenue collections, has pitched that the Union government should exempt 12.625 per cent Central Excise on CNG buses to ensure that the DTC’s financial health does not bleed any further after the reduced bus fares.

It was last month that  Mr Baijal’s predecessor Najeeb Jung had suggested the AAP government reduce fares of DTC and cluster buses for one month to encourage people to use public transport and shun use of private vehicles in a bid to bring down the rising air pollution in the national capital. “We have sent the file to lieutenant governor for his approval. We hope that L-G will give his nod in a day or two. The government is slashing fares to cut down the pollution level,” Delhi transport minister Satyendra Jain said.

As per the proposal, there will be a flat fare of Rs 5 in all non-air-conditioned DTC and cluster buses and Rs 10 in all air-conditioned buses for a month. This is being done on a trial basis. At present, a ride in an AC bus can cost anywhere between Rs 10 to 25 while in non-AC buses Rs 5 to 15.

According to sources, some officers had raised objections on the government’s proposal, saying the move may cause financial loss to the Delhi Transport Corporation (DTC). A senior government official said DTC is already incurring losses, and reduction in fares will not have a big impact on its financial condition.

The deputy chief minister has himself informed the Union government during the pre-budget consultation meeting that Delhi is making all efforts to promote public transport to mitigate the air pollution in the city and to offset the additional liability of service tax imposed by the Government of India, about six per cent of the fare of AC buses needs to be increased which will discourage the common man from using public transport.  “The Central Excise Duty of about 12.625 per cent on CNG buses may also be exempted by the Government of India to reduce the cost of public transport,” an official statement issued by the AAP government said.

The reduction in fares of DTC and cluster bus was scheduled to come into eff-ect from January 1. How-ever, it was delayed as the government had sought co-mments from various dep-artments on the proposal.

He said that the central government must compensate the state governments for their revenue losses due to demonetisation.

Mr Sisodia, who also holds the finance portfolio, raised this point in the pre-budget consultation meeting of state finance ministers with Union finance minister Arun Jaitley.

He noted that due to demonetisation, the gro-wth of tax revenue under Value Added Tax has shown a negative growth in December, 2016 as compared to December, 2015.

“It will not be possible to achieve the target of tax revenue in the current financial year and as a result all developmental works being implemented by the government may suffer due to lack of resources,” he said.

Mr Sisodia also said that the central government was giving only Rs 325 crore as a share of Central Taxes to Delhi, which has been stagnant for the last 15 years.

“Central government treated Delhi as a union territory for payment of share in central taxes and as a state when it comes to100 per cent central funding of centrally-sponsored schemes (CSS) to union territories,” he said.