Thiruvananthapuram: Private bus operators in the State withdrew the ongoing strike on Sunday.
The decision was taken after a meeting with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan and Transport Minister Antony Raju at the Secretariat at 9am on Sunday.
The Chief Minister has acknowledged the struggle faced by the private bus industry and agreed to our demands, the owners said.
The indefinite private bus strike demanding a fare hike had completed three days on Saturday.
Demands by private bus owners
Private bus operators went on an indefinite strike from March 24 to demand an increase in ticket fare in the wake of rising fuel prices.
The private bus owners have demanded an increase of the minimum fare to Rs 12 and to hike the minimum concessional fare charged from students to Rs 6.
Besides, the operators have sought an increase in the kilometre charge from the present 90 paise to Rs 1.10 per km and waiver of road tax for the COVID-19 pandemic period.
Minister versus owners
Minister Antony Raju had earlier said that the government was planning to hike ticket fares which the private bus owners were aware of and therefore, there was no need for the strike.
However, the president of Kerala State Private Bus Operators Federation Sathyan said that a notice regarding the proposed strike was given to the government over two weeks ago and till date no one has engaged in discussions on the issue.
KSRTC not plying additional services
With almost 8,000 private buses off the roads due to the strike, steps taken by the KSRTC to operate additional services fell short of meeting public demands on Saturday.
In the last two days, the Corporation operated only 100 additional services.
Though there was a heavy rush in KSRTC buses due to the private bus strike, the Corporation could not even earn 75 per cent of the targeted revenue.
The authorities are not taking steps to run additional services even though around 1,200 KSRTC buses, which stopped services during the lockdown period, are lying unused at the parking grounds in various districts.
The private bus strike began on March 24. On March 23, the KSRTC operated 3,626 schedules. But on March 24, it could manage to operate only 3,695 schedules, just an increase of 69 buses
