Chandigarh, May 1 (KNN) Unprecedent COVID-19 pandemic has caused great loss to businesses, state governments and centre government. In a latest development, Haryana government has decided to hike bus fares, increase VAT on petrol and diesel, market fee on vegetables, a decision which is likely to impact common man.

These decisions were taken at a Cabinet meeting presided over by CM Manohar Lal Khattar on Thursday.

The state government increased bus fare in the state for ordinary, luxury and super-luxury buses from 85 paisa per passenger per km to Rs 1 per passenger per km to partially meet the increased cost of operation of buses from Rs 37.48 per km in June 2016 to Rs 52.23 per km in December 2019.

Value Added Tax (VAT) rate was too hiked by Re 1 per litre for petrol and Rs 1.1 per litre for diesel. The rate of tax will be restored to 25 per cent on petrol and 16.4 per cent on diesel — that are the pre-October 4, 2018 levels — and the fixed rate of tax per litre may be increased from Rs 8.15 per litre to Rs 9.20 per litre in case of diesel and from Rs 14.25 per litre to Rs 15.20 per litre in case of petrol.

The government also impose 1 per cent market fee and 1 per cent Haryana Rural Development Fund (HRDF) on the sale of fruits and vegetables in the mandis.

Eventually, for MSMEs, Haryana government has formulated "Haryana MSME revival Interest Benefit Scheme".

Under this scheme, all MSME units working in Haryana as on or before March 15, 2020, will be eligible for 100 percent interest benefit on loans availed for payment of the wages of employees or other expenses up to a maximum of Rs 20,000 per employee for a period of six months, an official statement said.