Nashik: Private bus transporters in the city are mulling to increase the fares before the Diwali vacation in view of the rise in fuel prices. The truckers have already increased their charges by 20%.“Currently we are absorbing the rise in diesel prices but that will be short lived. The prices have gone up about 10% since June and that means our margins are cut down by the same amount. Hence the association is mulling over increasing the fares,” Sahebrao Avhad from Prasanna Purple said.“The roads are very bad since the monsoon started and it impacts maintenance cost of buses. Bad roads also increase fuel consumption. These factors are making sustenance a difficult task,” said Rahul Patil another bus operator.“Diesel is the basic input for the industry. The prices of raw material are increasing and it is obvious that prices of output should also increase, which has not happened yet. We hope things will ease off a bit. A fortnight from now we plan to increase the fares by 20% to 25% ,” Patil added.The state transport utility – MSRTC – is also suffering from the hike in fuel prices. “There has been steady hike in fuel prices since June 2017 and our losses are mounting,” an MSRTC official said.The MSRTC had increased its fare in June. “Thereafter, the fuel prices have gone up exponentially. The cost of operation has gone up from Rs 15.27 per km in July to Rs 16.20 per km in August,” the official said.Similar is the case with the goods transportation sector where some players have already increased the fare.“The agriculture commodity has come under pressure as we have increased the fare by 25%. There is no chance of absorbing it given that the fares have been increasing consistiently,” said Jaypal Sharma, president of Nashik Transporters’ Assocaition.“A truck carrying onion to Delhi would charge Rs 3,000 per trip earlier. But, the fares have crossed Rs 3,800 now. The prices have been increased over the past four months?” Sharma said.The transporters have also demanded increase in the annual transport contract with the industries.“In our contract with companies the rates are fixed. But now we have demanded them to revise the rates. Some companies have agreed, others are yet to decide,” said Shekhar Shah, another operator.The transporters were also mulling agitation against rise in fuel prices. “We will increase our charges but eventually will lose business to railways. We don’t want it to happen. We had a five-day strike a few months ago, we may call for another strike,” Sharma said.

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