BMTC pledges Shanthinagar bus station for Rs 390-crore loan

Beset by losses and low revenues, the BMTC has pledged the Shanthinagar TTMC for a loan of Rs 390 crore that was taken to meet the expenses during the last two financial years.

While the financial woes date back to 2016, when the daily earnings started falling due to high operation costs, the recent hikes in diesel prices have put additional pressure on the transport corporation. Ever since the pandemic hit, transport corporations had been dependent on the government to provide salaries to the employees. The Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) is no exception.

The BMTC’s daily earnings fell from Rs 2.5 crore to a few lakhs during the pandemic. Five months after Covid restrictions were lifted in June, officials said the ridership had neared 15 lakh and the revenue at about Rs 1.4 crore.

The corporation already had loans of Rs 407 crore taken between 2016-17 and 2019-20. As the monthly salary expenses alone amount to Rs 65 crore, the low revenue days have forced the BMTC to borrow more.

“Even now, the BMTC has paid only 50% of the salaries. It had provident fund dues of more than Rs 300 crore. It managed to pay half of it last year. It is no surprise that they are borrowing money,” said H V Anantasubbarao, president of the KSRTC Staff and Workers' Federation.

He said that the BMTC had failed to address the needs of commuters, and officials had failed to boost the morale of employees.

"There needs to be a complete overhaul of strategy and a worker-friendly environment to help BMTC get back to the market, which has become highly competitive,” he added.