Rs 12-cr loss in six months forces KSRTC to return to Majestic

Less than six months after shifting hundreds of bus services to the Sri Basaveshwara bus stand in far-off Peenya, the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will now run the services from the original terminus—Kempegowda Bus Stand (Majestic)—in order to cut persistent losses.

Ever since the KSRTC started running services to north Karnataka destinations from the Peenya facility in September 2014, it was incurring losses as private bus operators had continued to operate from Majestic, wooing passengers who thought it arduous to travel all the way to Peenya to catch a bus.

With losses to the tune of Rs 12 crore, the corporation had no option but to request the government to allow it to move back to Majestic.

From March 1 onwards, buses bound for Davangere, Hubballi, Ballari and Hosapete sectors will originate at Majestic but ply via Peenya bus stand. Buses bound for Hassan, Chikkamagaluru, Mangaluru, Tumakuru (including non-stop services), Sira, Pavagada and Shivamogga sectors, which presently originate at Majestic, will also ply via Peenya bus stand. In the return direction too, the buses will ply via the Peenya facility.

The KSRTC Managing Director, Rajender Kumar Kataria, confirmed the move and attributed it to the “stubbornness” of private bus operators who had continued to run their services from Majestic.

“The occupancy rate of our buses dropped sharply in the last few months and we were incurring losses. Passengers were also complaining that the Peenya bus stand was located far away” he explained.

“We already have losses to recover and we didn’t want to add to them.”

The KSRTC had decided to run buses to north Karnataka and other destinations from the Peenya facility in order to decongest the bus stand in Majestic which is located in the heart of Bengaluru. At that time, it promised that private bus operators would not be allowed to operate from Majestic either.

But the private bus lobby, sources say, was so strong it never agreed to move out of Majestic. Consequently, it made huge profits at the KSRTC’s expense. The government was simply helpless before it.