Tamil Nadu’s State transport undertakings (STUs), once regarded as better run entities in the country, are in the midst of a deep crisis. Unable to buy new vehicles to replace increasingly-growing aged ones; pay compensation to many victims of road accidents and fulfil commitments on terminal benefits to retired employees, the corporations present a pathetic plight. Days after transport workers’ went on a week-long strike, the government announced a steep hike in bus fares last week. In an interview with The Hindu on Monday, P.W. C. Davidar, who is steering the affairs of the STUs as Additional Chief Secretary (Transport) for the last seven months, explains factors behind the fare hike and the government’s plans for overhaul of the STUs.
Is it correct to say that the bus fare hike is in the range of 67% to around 108%?
Davidar : Totally, it is a misnomer to say that way. It does not work like that… In ordinary buses, the increase is marginal. Take the case of mofussil ordinary buses, the starting fare has gone up from ₹ 5 to ₹ 6. The hike has been done in a manner that it is much lesser than [what it is] in neighbouring States. What we are trying to do is to increase the frequency of services of ordinary buses, numbering 4,500. In Karnataka, they revised their bus fare 16 times since 2000. Kerala and Andhra Pradesh have done it eight times. By and large, they are all able to break even. In Karnataka, their rolling stock is continuously getting renewed.
Will not the fare hike lead to further erosion of your occupancy ratio?
It is like a difficult choice to make. You are running buses at a loss of ₹ 9 crore a day. We are conscious of the fact that in our fleet, 15,000 out of 22,000 buses have crossed six-and-a-half years, which is the life of a bus. We are going through this because we are unable to manage sufficient funds to buy new buses. It is like a vicious cycle.
At the same time, we have listed a huge number of items with regard to economic issues — where we can be more efficient and where we can save more money. We are into it. Besides, there is a proposal to buy 2,000 buses.
We have also started a lot of route rationalisation. We are working on the merger of Madurai and Tirunelveli bus transport corporations which will help in not only route rationalisation but also better coordination in the old sector.
As Tirunelveli is among the most loss making [undertakings], it is better to merge the two and try to make sure that at least there is break even.
Are you trying to bring down the number of transport corporations from eight to four ?
Not immediately. Definitely, the number will go down from eight to seven. But, everything has to be sustainable. The MTC is massive by itself and is almost equal to two corporations. It is better for the MTC to retain itself. There is a lot of information technology-related work such as compiling the daily ticket collections that requires to be done which will help route rationalisation.
After the hike, to what extent the daily collection has gone up ?
Prior to the revision, it was in the range of ₹ 20 crore to ₹ 22 crore. I can tell you [about the revised collection] only after a month. Whatever more comes in will lessen my losses.
Would the levy of ₹ 1 to ₹ 10, collected towards the payment of compensation to victims of road accidents and toll levy, be exclusive of the bus fare?
Yes. The component of accident compensation alone works out to ₹ 28 to ₹ 35 crore a month. In our State, if there is any accident involving my bus, the bus driver is held guilty, irrespective of the type of accidents. The reason is that the bus is the big vehicle. A few months ago, 650 buses were impounded by courts [due to non payment of the compensation].
How would the proposed indexing method on price determination work out ? Does it mean that the frequency will go up more frequently?
In Karnataka and other States, they have indexed the bus fare to the cost of fuel or establishment or maintenance. Let us say, in a year, if you have to change it, it will go as a marginal increase. But, the revision would not be frequent.
