Rising Ferry Fares in Andaman: 10-Year Analysis of Policy Failures and Impact
A Decade of Rising Ferry Fares, Declining Services :
Andaman & Nicobar’s Not-So-Funny April 1 Ritual
By
Debkumar Bhadra
Every year on the 1st of April, the world observes April Fool’s Day—a day associated with harmless pranks and laughter. But for commuters in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, the date over the past decade has evoked anxiety rather than amusement. This is because ferry fares unfailingly rise on this day, affecting local economy and the cost of living. This article examines the pattern of fare revision during the past 10 years, including administrative policy framework and the systemic inefficiencies, unravelling the gap between approved norms and actual implementation.
As
the ritual goes, this year again, the Directorate of Shipping Services (DSS)
has announced revision of fares across its fleet with effect from April 1st.
For thousands of islanders who depend on ferries for daily commuting, the revision
delivers yet another financial jolt.
Ferry fare hike: policy vs actual implementation
The official approval granted by A&N Administration, Secretariat clearly envisages a uniform annual increase of 5% across all categories of vessels and sectors operated by DSS. If applied consistently, this would have resulted in an overall increase of about 63% over the past decade. In practice, however, this appears to have been followed only selectively.A year-on-year comparison of mainland–island ship fares between 2016–17 and 2026–27 shows near-perfect adherence to the approved 5% policy. However, the story changes dramatically when one examines fares for the harbour, foreshore and inter-island ferry services.
In an archipelago spread across
hundreds of islands, harbour ferry services operated by DSS is not merely a
convenience. In several parts of the islands, they are the only means of
transport. Students depend on them to reach schools, patients to hospitals,
traders to transport goods and families maintain connections across islands
largely through these government operated ferry services. Yet over the past
decade, ferry and ship fares in the islands have witnessed continued escalation
year after year.
A decade of ferry fare trends (2015–2025 analysis)
Well, somebody has very rightly said, data doesn’t lie. Between 2016–17 and 2026–27, the
basic passenger fare in the harbour ferry sector increased from ₹8 to ₹16.
This amounts to an annual increase of about 7.2%
which is 2.2% higher than the approved rate of 5%. Had the approved rate been
applied as envisaged, the fare would have been ₹13 as of now.
The escalation is even more striking in
the case of two-wheelers, the most commonly used mode of personal transport in
the islands. The fares rose from ₹20 to ₹65 pointing to an annual
increase of approximately 12.5% which
is more than double the approved rate. Even three-wheelers and four-wheelers,
with annual increases of around 6% exceed the approved benchmark.
For the sake of
brevity, this analysis has been confined to a limited set of routes and fare
categories. Yet it clearly reveals that fares across harbour, foreshore and
inter-island sectors have been revised in breach of the approved rate. Given this
pattern, it is reasonable to infer that similar deviations extend to the remaining
routes and category of vessels as well.
Lack of regulation and its impact on ferry fare increases
The striking deviation cannot be dismissed as an April Fool’s prank. It points to a systemic lapse and raises serious concerns of breach of administrative propriety. What principle actually governs these fare revisions? When the approval is uniform across categories, why is it that select sectors availed by thousands of islanders on a day-to-day basis have been singled out to bear the discretionary fare hike exceeding the approved rate?
Cost escalation in transport
services is not unusual. In most well-regulated public transport systems,
fare increase is typically preceded by capacity augmentation and infrastructure
modernization, leading to improvement in service. In the Andaman and
Nicobar Islands, however, the experience has been markedly different. Despite
growing demand and clear evidence of capacity constraints, there has been
little to no addition of new ferries to the fleet over the past decade and a
half. In a region where connectivity depends almost entirely on sea transport,
such stagnation in fleet augmentation is not a minor administrative lapse. It
is a structural constraint on service delivery. The result is overcrowded
vessels, longer waiting time and declining service quality.
The stagnation is not a recent
phenomenon. Many of the deficiencies identified more than a couple of decades ago
still remain unresolved. Specifically, the busy Bambooflat–Chatham route, for
instance, continues to face systemic issues such as single-ramp jetties, which
limit the ability of multiple ferries to berth simultaneously. This causes a huge
pile-up of passengers and vehicles routinely during business hours. Inadequate fleet deployment/acquisition
to match the rising demand further compounds the problem for commuters.
At the root of this lies a deeper institutional issue - the absence of regulatory oversight by an independent tariff regulator. This has allowed discretion to creep into the system, leading to selective deviations from the approved mandate.
Without transparent cost audits,
service benchmarks or public consultation, fare revision risk becoming an
internally justified exercise. Where the burden of inefficiency
is transferred to the commuters who are left to bear a double jeopardy -
rising costs alongside declining service quality. The fundamental question that
policymakers must now confront is this - How long can a public transport system justify rising
fares, when commuters experience little to no
improvement in the service?
In many island territories around
the world, transport, specifically sea transport, is treated as an essential
public service rather than a commercial venture. Governments therefore
subsidise such services to ensure the residents can travel for work, education,
healthcare and access other social needs. Hence, their pricing cannot be solely aimed
at incremental cost recovery. They must be governed by principles of
accessibility and public obligation.
The A&N Islands deserve the same
policy sensitivity. When the tariff of a public lifeline rises year after year
but the service itself fails to improve, the policy begins to be viewed as institutional
indifference to the everyday struggles of commuters. Instead of mechanical
annual fare hikes, the A&N Administration need to adopt a transparent
tariff framework linked to measurable service benchmarks. This simple
reform would introduce accountability into the system.
Time for urgent policy reform, course correction
Rising ferry fares in the Andaman and Nicobar Islands have reached a point where immediate policy intervention is necessary to protect commuters and ensure equitable access to essential services. The urgency of such reform becomes clear when viewed against the cumulative impact of the past decade. The disproportionate burden on select passengers and two-wheelers availing DSS operated ferries cannot be ignored any longer. The question is not merely of affordability, but what commuters have received in return. A sustained pattern of escalating fares beyond the approved rate, coupled with persistent service shortcomings, makes it imperative for the authorities to pause the current fare hike.
Such a course correction is not
merely an administrative necessity but a social imperative. For the people of
these islands, ferry services are not optional. They are the primary and in several parts of A&N Islands the only means of accessing education, healthcare and livelihood. They form the vital
links that bind the islands, islanders and their livelihood together. Any
policy that affects this lifeline must therefore be subjected to a higher
standard of scrutiny and protection.
If 1st April must remain associated
with surprises, let it be the surprise of a fairer ferry policy, rather than a mechanical repetition
of the same not-so-funny ritual where commuters discover that the joke, once
again, is on them.
Related Articles:
- 👉 Inefficient Vehicle Ferry Service between Bambooflat-Chatham
- 👉 An appeal to the Honble Minister of Shipping, Road Transport and Highways
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