Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) government in Delhi has decided to slash the DTC fares by offering a whopping 75 per cent discount.

This decision has been taken to fight the ever-increasing pollution level in the capital and encourage people so that they opt public transport instead of their personal vehicles.

According to a report by HT , there will be a flat fare of Rs 5 for travelling in non-AC bus while AC bus fare has been slashed to Rs 10 for the month of January.

Earlier, the fare would cost between Rs 5 and Rs 15 for a non-AC bus while for an AC bus, the fare would cost between Rs 10 and Rs 25.

This is what the AAP government has decided to offer:

1. Permanent discount of 75 percent on passes to women and people who belong to economically weaker section of the society.

2. Provision of free travel passes for students below the age of 21, widows and senior citizens which will be valid for an entire year.

Personal vehicles take up more than 75% of the road space but meet only 20% of the commuting demand while buses use less than 5% of the road space but meet more than 60% of the commuting demand.

"Our aim is to reduce the number of vehicles on road, which will reduce pollution. Buses are anyway running empty and by lowering the fare, we are expecting more people to use the bus service. We are targeting youngsters and if they leave their bikes home and take the bus, then pollution will be reduced to a certain extent," told a senior transport department official to HT.

A monthly pass is going to cost Rs 250 now, which earlier used to cost Rs 800 for non-AC buses and Rs 1,000 for AC buses. The government has also decided to take off the old standard buses off the road by the end of 2016.

In the past three years, the percentage of travellers has decreased from 43.47 lakh to 35 lakh per day. By slashing fares drastically, this decision will encourage the commuters to choose public transport over other options and it will also help them preserve their pocket.