Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) wants to reduce passenger fare by 3 paisa per kilometre for long haul buses following the recent cuts in fuel prices, while bus owners want to reduce the fare by 2 paisa.

Both parties made their respective proposals at a meeting held at the BRTA office yesterday, said Nurul Islam, director of BRTA.

"We will send both the proposals to the ministry, where the final decision will be taken in regards to this matter," he told The Daily Star last evening.

The government on April 25 cut fuel prices, where diesel and kerosene has been reduced to Tk 65 from Tk 68 a litre, octane to Tk 89 from 99 and petrol to Tk 86 from 96.

Currently, a passenger has to pay Tk 1.45 per kilometre in inter-district routes

Following the fuel price reduction, demands for lowering passenger fare of buses got louder because almost all the buses on the inter-district routes are run by diesel.

However, the bus fare for Dhaka and Chittagong metropolis will remain unchanged as almost all the buses in the two cities are run by CNG.

Each passenger pays Tk 1.70 (bus) and Tk 1.60 (minibus) per kilometer in Dhaka and Chittagong.