Under the new rates, Nepali tourists will now need to pay Rs 50 more for traveling on a tourist coach on the route. [break]
For traveling on a non-AC coach, they will now need to pay Rs 400 for the one way journey on the route. One way fare for AC coaches has been fixed at Rs 550 per person.
Foreign tourists taking non-AC coaches can travel one way at the fare same as Nepali tourists, that is Rs 400 per person. However, for traveling on an AC coach they will need to pay US$ 12 per person. Previously, they were charged US$ 10 per person for one-way journey.
The new fares have already come into effect from Tuesday, said coach operators associated with Nepal Association of Tours and Travel Agents (NATTA) that mainly hiked the fares. We had to raise the fares because the rise in fuel prices have increased costs of operations, said officials of Tourist Bus Sub-committee of NATTA.
“We did not raise the fares even as Nepal Oil Corporation raised the prices of fuel repeatedly. This was gradually adding to our cost of operations. The latest hike finally forced us to review the rates,” said Kishor Dahal, coordinator of the sub-committee. "The decision to raise fare is our compulsion."
The NOC had recently hiked the price of diesel by Rs 9 per liter.
NATTA had not raised the fares on Pokhara-Kathmandu-Pokhara route for the last one-and-a-half years.
“We were managing the operating cost till the end of 2011 even though fuel price hikes during the period continued to add financial burden. However, we could not manage the situation after the recent back to back hikes that made diesel expensive by Rs 9 per liter,” said Dahal.
Currently, various travel and tour agencies are operating 16 tourist coaches every day on Pokhara-Kathmandu route. Similar number of buses also operated on the Kathmandu-Pokhara route.
Together, they cater to 800 tourists every day.
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