Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy on Thursday said a clear picture on the quantum of reduced bus fares in the State would be known in a day or two.
The government plans to cut the fares in the wake of falling diesel prices.
Replying to Bharatiya Janata Party member S.Muniraju during question hour in the Legislative Assembly, Mr. Reddy said department officials were considering all aspects before fixing the reduced fares.
He said the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation, which had made profits from 1998-99 to 2011-12, had successively suffered losses - of Rs. 147.95 crore in 2012-13 and Rs.147.59 crore in 2013-14 – owing to revised salaries of employees, spare parts and frequent rise in diesel prices.
The BMTC, which has made a profit of Rs. 12 crore this time, is expected to wipe out its accumulated losses, he said.
In the last one-and-a-half years, the transport corporation had purchased 1,028 buses, including 110 Volvo buses, at a cost of Rs. 319.14 crore.
The minister said the premium services of Marco Polo buses had resulted in a loss of Rs.4.11 crore till October this year while the Volvo services had earned a profit of Rs.5.04 crore after suffering a loss of Rs.20.70 crore in the previous year.
