Bus industry needs to become more efficient to maintain sustainability says Tebara Buses owner, Arvind Maharaj.

He says whenever there’s an increase in the operating cost, it puts more burden on the bus companies to absorb it especially when they can’t get a fare increase.

Maharaj says this could be a good time for bus companies to bring in a fleet which is fuel efficient.

“I think basically the bus industry has only three avenues – one is go for bus fare increase, second is to reduce expenses somehow and third is to become more efficient so I think lots of bus companies are trying to become more efficient through importation of new buses and so forth."

He says if the roads were in good condition the industry would have saved on maintenance cost.

Minister for Trade and Commerce, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum confirmed earlier this week that bus and taxi fares will remain same but the authorities are looking into Mini bus fares which haven’t been increased in 10 years.