Since the formation of Telangana State on June 2, 2014 to the end of August, 2019, the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) had received funds in excess from the government.
Stating this in an additional counter affidavit filed in Telangana High Court, the TSRTC Managing Director in-charge Sunil Sharma said the government paid ₹897.40 crore in excess to the TSRTC. Though the government was releasing money under the Heads of loan, it never asked the TSRTC for repayment of the same, the MD stated.
He conceded that in a presentation made to the Transport Minister it was mentioned that GHMC owed money to the TSRTC. ‘However, it is not a claim or something which GHMC owes to the corporation,’ the MD said in the affidavit.
It is the TSRTC that owes money to the State government and not the other way round, the Principal Finance Secretary (PFS) K. Ramakrishna Rao said in a separate affidavit.
Mr. Rao said that he had not stated that the GHMC owed ₹1,492 crore to the TSRTC. He said that he had stated in an earlier affidavit that “they are alleged dues only”. He categorically stated that the government “had fully discharged its complete responsibilities towards TSRTC and does not owe any monies to the corporation”.
Referring to the query raised by the HC as to how loans given to TSRTC can be construed as assistance to TSRTC towards reimbursement of concessional amounts, the PFS said it was common accounting practice in administration to release monies under different Heads. “The practice of giving loan to TSRTC is not a new one, but has been going on for the past 16 years,” he said in the fresh affidavit.
The TSRTC was given total flexibility as to how these monies in the form of loans released by the government are used. According to the PFS, ₹2,786.16 crore were released by the government to the TSRTC under different Heads during the financial years of 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17 and 2017-18.
For the financial year 2018-19 and 2019-20 (till the end of this October), ₹ 662.39 crore and ₹ 455 crore were released. But the TSRTC had to pay ₹ 540.16 crore to the government towards Motor Vehicle taxes from April 1, 2017 to August 31, 2019.
In a separate affidavit, the GHMC Commissioner Lokesh Kumar said the corporation had surplus finances during financial year 2014-15. However, it had deficit finances of ₹562.98 crore, ₹ 313.10 crore and ₹ 768.20 crore during the financial years of 2015-16, 2017-18 and 2018-19 respectively.
Due to the deficit finances, the corporation could not accept the TSRTC’s request to compensate the losses it suffered in operation of buses in city regions.
