Prateek Tanmay
2 min readPuneUpdated: May 28, 2026 10:05 PM IST
School van and bus fees in Pune are likely to increase by 15 to 20 per cent due to the increase in fuel and urea prices, the Pune Bus and Car Owners Association said on Thursday. The association said that the increase in fees would be purely to cover the increase in price of fuel and urea, and not for any additional profit.
The association, representing 4,500 school transport vehicles plying in the city, made the announcement after a meeting of Pune and Pimpri-Chinchwad office bearers.
Petrol and diesel prices have risen by around Rs 7.5/L since May 15. In addition to diesel, newer BS6 (Bharat Stage 6) compliant vehicles require a Diesel exhaust fluid for emission control. This fluid contains urea, the supply of which has also been hit due to the conflict in West Asia after US-Israel attacks on Iran.
A press note shared by the association said, due to these factors, the transporters are reluctantly compelled to implement a fare hike.
The association said, “The financial burden on vehicles transporting school students is set to increase significantly. The transporter’s expectation is simply to receive a corresponding increase in their fees, equivalent to the additional costs incurred due to the rise in diesel prices and other inflationary factors. Our objective is not to generate any additional profit, but merely to recover the exact amount of the increased operational costs…We earnestly request parents to extend their full cooperation in this matter and agree to this fare revision,”
Rajan Junavane, President of the association, told The Indian Express, “If schools are shut down, the livelihood of drivers and all people dependent on the industry will die. The same happened in COVID. People had to sell their vehicles and resort to selling vegetables. Maushis (female helpers), mechanics, around six to seven people are dependent on one vehicle. The government should not shut down schools and find some workaround like keeping schools open for three days.”
