The cess on passenger tickets above Rs.14 in the buses of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and the Kerala Urban Road Transport Corporation (KURTC) came into effect on Tuesday.
The cess is being collected primarily to mobilise funds for the employees’ pension fund. With this, commuters purchasing tickets costing Rs.15 and above will have to shelve out Re.1 to Rs.10 as cess for passenger group accident insurance and improved passenger amenities.
This is in addition to the Re.1 now being collected on all tickets towards accident insurance.
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The Principal Secretary, Transport, had issued the orders on Tuesday after getting clearances from the Law Department, a top KSRTC official told
Various slabs
As per the notification, the cess will be Re.1 on the ticket slab between Rs.15 and Rs.24, Rs.2 between Rs.25 and Rs.49, Rs.3 between Rs.50 and Rs.74, and Rs.4 between Rs.75 and Rs.99.
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A flat rate of Rs.10 will be levied on tickets priced more than Rs.100. At the current rate of 5 lakh passengers a day, the KSRTC is expected to net Rs.44 lakh a day or Rs.13.33 crore a month. This would work out to Rs.160 crore annually.
Of the cess amount collected, the KSRTC will have to pay the insurance companies a premium amount annually. But, the corporation was yet to ink an agreement with the insurance companies for the group insurance scheme.
Utility upgrade
The rest of the cess amount collected will be utilised to upgrade the transport utility and for improvement of facilities, payment of pension, and other welfare commitments.
The Assembly has passed a Bill, “the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (Passenger Group Personal Accident Insurance, Improved Passenger Amenities, Employees Social Security and Cess on Passenger Ticket Bill 2014, by approving the cess.