Diwali rush: MSRTC hikes fares by Rs 5 to Rs 100 on several bus classes between Oct 21 and 31

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The Maharashtra State Road Transport Corporation (MSRTC) on Friday said a temporary fare hike will be in place between October 21 and 31 for all bus services, barring the air-conditioned 'Shivneri' and 'Ashwamedh' classes.

Issuing a press release on Friday evening, MSRTC said it has permission to hike fares up to 30 per cent during peak season, which is usually the summer holiday period and festivals such as Diwali.

"Therefore, the fares will go up in the range of Rs 5 to Rs 100. The temporary fare hike will be applicable only for ordinary, semi luxury, sleeper coach and Shivshahi services, and not for luxury Shivshahi and Ashwagandha classes. The fare hike will stand withdrawn on November 1," the release informed

Also read: Ahead of Diwali, MSRTC to run 1,494 extra buses from Oct 21 to 31

"Those who have already booked their tickets for this period will have to pay the difference in fare during the journey. The fare hike, however, won't be applicable for monthly and trimonthly passes," it added.

Earlier, the state-run corporation had announced it would run almost 1,500 extra buses between October 21 and 31 to tide over the Diwali rush of passengers.

MSRTC, with a fleet of 16,000 buses, used to ferry 65 lakh passengers per day before the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent lockdown curtailed operations and brought down ridership considerably.

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