India, Jan. 3 -- Passenger fares across several parts of Kashmir have gone up on the ground even as the government maintains that no official order has been issued approving any hike, leaving commuters confused and transporters divided.

The Jammu and Kashmir government had last week reportedly cleared an 18 percent increase in passenger fares for all categories of public transport vehicles, with the revised rates proposed to take effect from January 1, 2026.

The reported approval followed a meeting of the Fare Revision Committee at the Civil Secretariat in Jammu on December 23. The committee, headed by Principal Secretary Finance Santosh D. Vaidya, discussed the long-pending demand of transporters for a revision of passenger fares.

How...