Citing a survey that gathered public opinion on fare hike, Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar and Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) Managing Director V.C. Sajjanar downplayed the imminent increase in ticket prices, and said that only a minority of respondents raised concerns.
Proposals on the fare hike would be sent to Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, who would take a decision on the issue, they said. TSRTC officials, including Mr Kumar and Chairman Bajireddy Goverdhan, pointed out the inevitability of the hike, and blamed the pandemic, and hike in fuel prices for the decision.
The Transport Minister said that the daily diesel consumption is approximately 6.8 lakh litres per day and the per litre fuel cost has risen over 27% from a time when prices were ₹ 68.29 per litre, on account of the Centre hiking prices frequently.
The fare hike, Mr Kumar said, would give the loss making transport juggernaut a much needed breather, and can realise around ₹ 680 crore.
“We are slowly moving towards normalcy,” Mr Kumar said. “The loss came down to ₹600 crore and will go down further in the next few years,” he added. Bus fares, Mr Kumar said, were increased in 2019, but did not have the desired effect due to the COVID-19 pandemic and ensuing lockdown. The second wave too took a toll on the TSRTC.
As was reported in these columns, the TSRTC officials and Mr Kumar reiterated that a hike of 25 paise per kilometre for Palle Velugu and City ordinary, and 30 paisa per kilometre for Metro Express, Metro Deluxe, Super Luxury and others has been proposed.
Once the proposal is cleared, it is likely that that the new Pallevelugu fare will be marginally higher than present fare for Express buses.
Meanwhile, Mr Goverdhan said that as many as 633 buses are to be scrapped, while another 1,400 are not in good condition.
