Bus services in Hyderabad leave TSRTC bleeding

Huge crowds using services during peak hours does not automatically mean profit for the corporation

Just the mention of the words Greater Hyderabad Zone in the context of the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) is enough to remind people that it is the biggest, operating the maximum number of 3,810 buses.

Interestingly, though one might see the rush of passengers during peak hours and think that the Zone is making profits, it is not so. In 2003-04, the fleet was 2,486-strong and TSRTC earned traffic revenues of Rs. 364 crore with a profit of Rs. 9.53 crore. Cut to the year 2015-16, the revenues are estimated at Rs. 976.71 crore, but with a loss of Rs. 345.72 crore!

Low earnings per km

The buses now run a whopping 32.50 crore km annually on 854 routes around a radius of 40 km. Yet it is in losses due to the gap between earnings per km (EPK) and cost per km (CPK). In 2003-04, the gross EPK and CPK were Rs. 17.21 and Rs. 16.82, respectively and for 2015-16, it stood at Rs. 41.22 and Rs. 51.85, respectively.

This is because of different factors including low speeds averaging just 17 km an hour, frequent idling at traffic signals, poor occupancy in non-peak hours, higher wear and tear of consumables.

High maintenance costs

They include clutch plates, brake liners and tyres in particular, apart from propeller shaft joints and gear box repairs, says Executive Director A. Purushotham.

Simply put, city operations are high on operating costs but low on productivity, universally. For example, air-conditioned luxury Volvo buses break even at an Occupancy Ratio (OR) of 65 per cent but now it is only 48, he explains.

They are profitable only on long distance routes when they clock an average of 650 km a day, while now in city operations, they average only 265 km.

So, what is the way out of the red and onto the path to black, as in profits ? “World over, urban public bus transport operations are in losses and are run by civic bodies. In the fiscal 2015-16, we got Rs. 330 crore from the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation to ease the losses. But this current year, we have not got anything yet. The way out is to increase OR in district operations and long-distance service and be content,” says Managing Director G.V. Ramana Rao.