ven as the revision of bus fares by the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) on Friday night evoked uproar across the State, the authorities say that the move will help the corporation cover up only a portion of its losses. The corporation is rather now focussing on improving on its non-traffic revenue.
The RTC increased the fares of Telugu Velugu buses by 5 per cent and 10 per cent for rest of its services and the management termed it as the last resort to ensure some breather for the public corporation which is being pushed into the red zone. Without a fare hike at this juncture, the corporation would suffer huge losses and would be caught in a debt trap, they say.
“The latest fare revision will earn us Rs.350 crore which is minimal when compared to the loss of Rs.1,200 crore. That’s the reason, focus is now on improving the non-traffic revenue,” APSRTC Vice-Chairman and Managing Director N. Sambasiva Rao told the Hindu.
Following the fare revision, the ticket cost in an Indra AC bus from Vijayawada to Tirupati will now cost Rs. 393 per head against the previous Rs.356.
Likewise; the same for non-AC super luxury bus has been revised to Rs.313 per head from Rs.283.
Though the fare hike will increase the revenue by around Rs.350 crore per annum, Mr. Rao said, this again would depend on the hike in fuel costs which always had a cascading impact on the corporation’s earnings.
Drawing a comparison between the expected revenue from the earlier price hikes and the revenue generated, he said the bottom lines had always fallen short of the expectation.
RTC buses guzzle up a whopping 28 crore litres of diesel every year and if diesel price is increased by Rs.1 a litre, the operational costs shoot up by Rs.28 crore, he explained, adding that cost of fuel, lubricants and consumables, maintenance and spares had made the management draw and re-draw the operational plans every time there was a hike in fuel prices.
In 2014-15 fiscal year, the corporation had suffered a loss of around Rs. 595 crore. The government’s decision of 43 per cent wage revision for employees added an additional financial burden of Rs. 660 crore for the corporation, taking the cumulative losses to nearly Rs.1200 crore.
The corporation earns about Rs.4,800 crore every year, of these Rs.3,500 crore comes from passenger traffic, Rs.600 through hiring of buses, Rs.260 from non-traffic sources and Rs. 400 crore are contributed by government subsidies, Mr. Rao said.
On the other hand, the expenditure incurred is about Rs.5,400 crore of which 50 per cent goes towards employees salaries, 40 per cent for purchasing of fuel and the rest for general maintenance and miscellaneous, he added.
The fare revision will fetch Rs.350 cr. compared to the Rs.1,200-cr. loss incurred. The focus is now on improving non-traffic revenue- N. Sambasiva Rao,
APSRTC Vice-Chairman and MD
