FIRST ORDER 25%

We recommend

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

All rail fares hiked after a decade Long Distance Cheaper Class Hit Hardest



NewDelhi:For the first time in a decade, the railways on Wednesday increased passenger fares across all classes to improve its dwindling finances and shore up services on trains and at stations. The raise, ranging between 2 paise and 10 paise per km, depending on the class you travel, will translate into a higher burden for those travelling longer distances and in cheaper classes. 
    The sharpest raise was reserved for sleeper class passengers—it will cost up to 33% more for those travelling from Delhi to Thiruvananthapuram from January 21 midnight. Similarly, in AC 3-tier coaches on Rajdhani, the hike in basic fare, which excludes catering and reservation fee, will add up to as much as 16% between Delhi and Ernakulam. A similar differential is visible if one looks at the hike for sleeper class fares (27%) and AC 3-tier fares 

(13%) between the national capital and Chennai. 
    There are two reasons for this skew in the hikes. On the one hand, a raise of 6 paise/ km in sleeper class fares constitutes a larger percentage hike than a 10 paise per km hike in upper class fares. Also, since the existing fares are 'telescopic', that is the per kilometre rate decreases 
as the distance increases, a flat per km addition effectively hikes longer distance fares more in percentage terms. 
    In fact, the percentage hikes in upper class fares will be even lower since the proposed hikes pertain only to the base fare. Other elements of the fare like reservation charges, catering, superfast charges and so on remain uncha
nged. These account for a larger share of upper class ticket fares than in cheaper classes. Also, the revision in AC 1st and 2nd class fares is lower given that they were hiked in the last budget, when pressure from allies forced the UPA to withdraw plans for an across-the-board hike. 
In hard times, govt looks to cut spend 
ut expenditure and if possible, put it off for the next fiscal: that is the message from the finance ministry to every department, before it goes into a huddle to prepare a Budget in hard times. The disinvestment and revenue departments will be on an overdrive to mop up every possible paisa over the next 12 weeks. P 21 Cong defends, oppn for rollback 
    The Congress defended the rail fare hike even as the BJP, Left parties and Trinamool protested against the hike in rail fares in one voice and demanded an immediate rollback in all categories except AC-I and AC-II. The BJP said the decision clearly exposed the "anti- democratic" face of the government. P 11 



0 comments:

 

blogger templates | Make Money Online