Is TSRTC Submitted Four Proposals to Increase Bus Fares?

Hyderabad: As asked by the Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to the Management of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) to submit the proposal for increasing the bus fares, the decision on this will be taken at the next Cabinet meeting. The TSRTC has submitted the four proposal to the Chief Minister’s office in this regard.

Though the Chief Minister has Asked the TSRTC to send the proposals, the exercise has been pending for a month due to some political reasons (Huzurabad by-elections). As the by-elections is over, there seems to be a movement in this regard once again and the meeting between the Chief Minister and TSRTC Management is likely to convene soon for the approval of the proposal.

It may be recalled that the Telangana government revised the RTC charges in December 2019 after a strike in the RTC two years ago; at that time it was increased by 20 paise per kilometer. This puts a burden of Rs. 550 crore on the people every year. At that time the price of diesel was Rs. 68 per litre and now it reached to Rs. 105.

Now after the latest reduction in Central excise duty, it has come down to Rs. 90 (at a discounted price to the TSRTC), it will save Rs. 90 lakh per day. The latest excise duty reduction of Rs. 10 per liter on diesel has become a major blow to the TSRTC. This directly saves Rs. 65 lakh on the 6.50 lakh liters of diesel consumed daily. 

Adding in the savings on rental buses used by the TSRTC, it can reach upto Rs. 90 lakh. Since the charges were raised in the past, the current price is more than Rs. 20 per litre. Compared to then, the daily burden is more than Rs. 1.22 crore, in this context, the RTC is of the view that an increase in charges is inevitable.

According to the sources, the TSRTC has recently sent four types of proposals to the government. 15 paise per km, 20 paise, 25 paise and 30 paise per km. An increase of 20 paise would increase revenue by Rs. 625 crore, 25 paise would increase it by about Rs. 750 crore and a 30 paise increase by over Rs. 900 crore. 

The TSRTC is of the view that the proposal to increase the rate by 25 paise per km would be favorable.  If it is 30 paise, it will be better for the TSRTC.