Brace For Bus Fare Hike: TSRTC officials approach government following rise in fuel prices

Hyderabad: The bus fares are likely to be increased soon in Telangana as the officials of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) have requested the Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to permit them to increase the fares.

A meeting of the RTC was held at Pragathi Bhavan on Thursday where the officials told Chief Minister KCR that the RTC losses were continuing due to the huge increase in diesel prices, lockdown imposed because of the corona and arrears accumulated in the past. The officials explained that the financial burden would increase further if wages were increased for RTC employees. The officials said that the financial burden would not decrease unless the government takes steps to provide large-scale assistance and increase bus fares.

Last time when bus fares were increased, the price of a liter of diesel was Rs 67 but in a very short span of time the price has gone up by Rs 15 per liter. This had a severe impact on the RTC. The RTC suffered losses during the lockdown imposed and there is a burden of arrears already accumulated.

Under these circumstances the salaries of RTC employees have to be increased. If salaries are increased, it will be a heavy burden on the RTC. The RTC is not in a position to bear it. So, the State government itself should provide assistance to the RTC on a large scale. Bus fares should be increased. Unless these two steps are taken, there will be RTC cannot come on track, the officials told the chief minister.

The officials informed that the situation changed significantly with some of the decisions taken in the RTC, with the extra help provided by the government. The operation of buses to Andhra Pradesh yielded good results. Occupancy increased to 58 per cent and has been increasing gradually. This Corporation was generating an income of Rs 9 Crores per day. The situation will be even more hopeful in the coming days, they explained.

The Chief Minister congratulated the RTC officials on the success of cargo services and said that they were providing great services to the people. He appreciated that the people were very satisfied with the RTC cargo services. He was also all praise for the OSD of RTC Cargo Services Krishnakant. He noted that now there was a belief among the people that the parcels handled by RTC Cargo would reach destination in a timely and safe manner.