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The Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources has said bus fares may increase by a maximum of Tk 0.29 per kilometre and launch fares by Tk 0.42 per kilometre after the latest hike in fuel prices.
It said this in a statement on Saturday.
The statement said the present long-distance bus (52 seats) fare is Tk 1.8 per kilometre. As diesel prices have been increased by Tk 34 per litre, this fare will increase by Tk 0.29 per kilometre, reaching Tk 2.09, which is a 16.22 per cent increase.
The current intra-city bus (52 seats) fare is Tk 2.15 per kilometre. With an increase of Tk 0.28 per kilometre, this fare will be Tk 2.43, a 13.16 per cent rise.
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Fares, however, will be finalised after a meeting with bus owners and other stakeholders at the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority office in the capital on Saturday.
The current launch fare is Tk 2.19 per kilometre, which may go up by Tk 0.42 per kilometre, reaching Tk 2.62 a 19.18 per cent rise.
The government on Friday night increased fuel prices amid the volatility in the global market. The fresh hike came into effect on Saturday midnight.
Diesel and kerosene retail prices were fixed at Tk 114 per litre while that of octane at Tk 135 a litre and petrol at Tk 130 per litre.
The fuel price hike comes at a time when people, particularly from the lower- and middle-income groups, are already struggling with the skyrocketing commodity prices.
With the fresh fuel price hike, the lives of people will be tougher as it will cause commodity prices and transport fares to go up again.
The government increased diesel and kerosene prices by Tk 15 a litre in November last year. The prices reached Tk 80 a litre from Tk 65.
However, octane and petrol prices remained unchanged at Tk 89 and Tk 86 per litre respectively.
The Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources on Friday said the Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation had incurred losses of Tk 8,014.51 crore between February and July this year.
