VIJAYAWADA: With an accumulated revenue loss of around Rs. 3,600 crore staring in the face, officials of the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) have a daunting task of working out innovative ways to overcome the serious financial crisis the public transport giant is steeped in.
The RTC management has appealed to the State Government to make liberal allocation in the budget. “We have asked the Government to help us in the budget which may help us to meet the immediate expenses,” M. Malakondaiah, Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of APSRTC told The Hindu.
Being at the helm and efficiently leading the loss-making Corporation is a tall order. “The Government has asked us to increase non-ticket revenue. We intend to focus on improving the Occupancy Ratio (OR) in our fleet of buses,” says Mr. Malakondaiah, ruling out fare hike. “A major chunk of our commuters are common people and we cannot afford to burden them with increased bus fares,” he says.
The fact that a large number of overused buses have to be replaced has further weighed down the Corporation.
Rs. 3,600 cr accumulated loss
The RTC’s total (provisional) losses stand at Rs. 3,600 crore as the division of properties owned by the undivided Corporation is yet to be made.
Pitted against heavy liabilities, the top brass is doing all it can to galvanise the organisation and put it back on the rails. In the current fiscal, the Corporation has incurred a revenue loss of Rs. 501 crore (from April to October 2016). The management has to address other liabilities to the tune of Rs. 530 crore under different heads such as payment of PF arrears and loan interest amounts (by November this year).
Loans availed on high interest rates is compounding the woes of the RTC management. “We have outstanding loans of Rs. 2,250 crore taken from different banks and financial institutions,” says Mr. Malakondaiah, indicating the seriousness of the problem.
High interest rates a spoiler
The Corporation has to pay Rs. 600 crore towards loan repayment including the interest this fiscal. It has so far paid Rs. 332 crore while the remaining Rs. 267 crore has to be paid by March. “High interest rates on the loans secured by the Corporation have proven costly,” he admits.
Pointing to the fact that interest rate had come down in the market, the official says the RTC would seek restructuring of its loans.
The officials also initiated a slew of measures in the last couple of years, which included commercialisation of the RTC properties. “We are trying to make the best of whatever resources we have in our hand to generate funds but the commercialisation drive will not fetch us fruits overnight and so we are shifting focus on enhancing the OR. We will also ask our allied departments to ensure stringent implementation of the Motor Vehicle Act that will help us in generation of funds to some extent,” says Mr. Malakondaiah.
