Private bus operators have come up with two sets of fare proposals — a minimum fare of Rs 20 and Rs 15 — for the government to take the final call.

The minimum bus fare in Calcutta at present is Rs 7 and taking it to Rs 20 during the lockdown means close to a three-fold jump and Rs 15, a little over double.

Operators and bus owners explained their reasoning behind the proposal. The carrying capacity of a 40-seater bus is 60 — 20 passengers are allowed to stand, according to union members.

Reducing the total number of passengers to 20 during the lockdown means cutting down the passenger count by a third. The fare should therefore be raised three times, a member said.

Chief minister Mamata Banerjee has said buses would be allowed to ply but only with 20 passengers. Operators have to work out a fare structure and discuss the matter with transport minister Suvendu Adhikari, she has said.

Adhikari had met the operators recently and asked them to come up with a revised fare structure so that running buses during the lockdown proved economical for owners and operators.

“We have proposed Rs 20 for the first 4km,” Tapan Bandopadhayay, the general secretary of the Joint Council of Bus Syndicates, said. “Thereafter, Rs 5 for every 4km. So, if a passenger travels 20km, he/she will have to pay Rs 40 according to our proposal.”

It is unlikely people will be willing to pay a minimum fare of Rs 20, another set of operators has said. So, Rs 15 as the minimum fare is more practicable, they have said.

“Roughly that’s double of what one pays now,” Rahul Chatterjee, the secretary of the Bus Minibus Samannay Samity, said.

The minimum fare for minibuses at present is Rs 8 for 3km and then Rs 9 up to 6km. Operators have proposed to raise the minimum fare to Rs 30 for 6km.

The transport department will go through the proposals and announce its decision by next week, a department official said.