No immediate bus fare hike, says APSRTC MD

RTC embraces employee-friendly approach to motivate staff

APSRTC Managing Director N.V. Surendra Babu addressing a press conference in Vijayawada on Friday.

Hike in diesel price has put an additional burden on the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC), but the public transport giant does not intend to pass on the burden to its customers.

“Despite the burden, we don’t intend to increase bus fares immediately,” said corporation’s Managing Director Surendra Babu at a press conference here on Friday.

Mr. Babu, who assumed charge two months ago, utilised this period to take stock of the situation, assess strengths and weaknesses of the organisation and plan strategies to overcome hurdles. “The APSRTC operates nearly 11,756 buses catering to the transport needs of 65 lakh people. We continue operations in some of the remote routes in rural areas despite losses in public interest,” he said.

He said of the nearly 55,000 RTC staff, 23,000 were drivers, 18,000 conductors and 4,000 mechanics and shramiks, while the remaining are supervisory-level officers. We need to work collectively to bring the organisation out of the financial crisis, he said.

Operations

Mr. Babu said the corporation planned to expand operations in 134 routes. A budget of ₹200 crore had been allocated for purchase of 850 new buses. The officials are also considering implementation of flexible fares.

As part of reforms, the authorities have decided to adopt a humane approach towards the employees.

Doing away with what he called ‘punishment’ and ‘chargesheet’ culture, Mr. Babu said in April, nearly 3,400 staff members were served chargesheets. “We will stop this practice. Instead, we will talk to them, inspire and motivate them to give their best,” he said informing that in the next couple of months, the corporation would review all the old cases and drop the ones which did not involve serious offence.

Administrative matters

Admitting that changes had to be brought about to improve the administration, he said payment of nearly 2,600 pensions were pending for over a year besides 4,100 dues relating to staff retirement benefits and 1500 retirement settlement salaries due to financial constraints. “From April, all of it has been streamlined in a way that the worker will not have any inconvenience,” he said.

Replying to a query, he said the corporation had incurred a revenue loss of ₹489 crore against ₹790 crores the preceding year, thereby reducing a loss of ₹ 300 crore.

He said some 300 acres of commercially viable lands belonging to the APSRTC had been identified across the State which would be put to use to improve revenue.