bengaluru travel operators and those in the logistics business are feeling the pinch of fluctuating diesel price which has gone up by 743 per cent in the last 20 days in bengaluru while a litre of diesel cost rs 6301 on january 1 it has now touched rs 6807 per litre diesel price got dearer by rs 5 in the last fortnight the price fluctuation is killing the smallscale travel operators sector said radhakrishna holla president of the bangalore tourist taxi operators associationafter an alltime high on october 4 2018petrol and diesel in bengaluru sold for rs 8489 and rs 7645 respectivelythe prices dropped towards the end of december to reach rs 6818 and rs 6224 but it showed an upward trend again with the state government hiking sales tax on petrol from 2575 to 32 and diesel from 1773 to 21 on january 4 its been difficult for bus operators to fix the fare structure the operator would not be clueless about the exact pricing when it comes to advance booking for fortnight or month if there is a hike in fuel prices operators have to absorb it this is the reason why many operators have stopped advance booking for more than fortnight said sunil sharma secretary of karnataka bus owners associationtruckers are also at the receiving end the business was on the recovery mode in december after a series of hikes but the estimations have gone awry yet again in january with fluctuating fuel prices the transport cost for truckers rose from the average rs 25 per km to rs 35 in september and it reached rs 40 in october two lakhs of the total 65 lakh goods vehicles in karnataka had grounded to a halt owing fuel price hike then the cost of transportation started falling from mid october and reached rs 25 per km towards the end of december now it is rs 35 it will be difficult for any business to sustain with this kind of price fluctuation this is the reason why we are asking to end the daily price revision system while our perennial demand is that the motor fuels be brought under gst said gr shanmugappa president of lorry owners and agents federationas a possible remedy to save consumers from fare fluctuation transport experts suggest the government set up a regulatory body on the lines of the karnataka electricity regulatory commission kerc to regulate bus fares and fright rates of truckspeaks valleys in bengaluruoctober 4petrol rs 8489diesel rs 7645december 29petrol rs 6818diesel rs 6224january 4petrol rs 7084diesel rs 6466january 24petrol rs 7362diesel rs 6807