The Assam Government has decided not to increase the bus fares as demanded by the Motor Transport Association. In a meeting held on Tuesday with the All Assam Motor Transport Association, the government said that it cannot load burden on the common people during this pandemic and therefore decided not to increase any fares as of now.

State Transport Minister Chandra Mohan Patowary said that the bus fares will not be increased as of now. "During this hour of crisis, we cannot burden the common people and asked the motor transport association to run the buses in the earlier fares. Regarding the road tax we will discuss with the finance department and the issue of carrying 100 percent passengers, it will be discussed with the health department. We have called for another meeting after a week," Patowary said.

The minister also urged them to call off the strike, with the assurance that all other demands would be looked into as long as public interest is not harmed.

The association, however, decided to continue with the strike until the government comes up with a decision next week.

The government also assured the associations that payments for hiring buses during the lockdown period will be cleared at the earliest.