Increases cut

FARE increases of nearly 20 per cent proposed by the two bus companies, the Kowloon Motor Bus Company and China Motor Bus Company, will be reduced, the Secretary for Transport, Haider Barma, said yesterday.

But he said it would be unrealistic to force the rises below inflation, which is about nine per cent. ''The bus operators are private operators. I think it's necessary to give them a reasonable rate of return,'' he said.