The steep hike in the diesel prices has forced the four road transport corporations of Karnataka to propose the state government to hike the fares of public transport by at least 20%.
Speaking to DH, the Managing Directors of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation Shivayogi C Kalasad and North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation Krishna Bajpai said it has become inevitable for the corporations to increase the bus fare to minimise the operational losses.
Kalasad said an increase of fare by 15% or 20% will reduce the operating losses of RTCs by at least 50%.
He said, between April 2020 and January 2021, the fuel prices has gone up by nearly 50%. In the last eight months, the total losses accrued by the four RTC is pegged at Rs 2,500 crore. This also includes the loss caused by the lockdown-induced by the pandemic.
Bajpai said NWKRTC hasn’t reached its pre-Covid passenger level till now. This is also resulting in operational losses. Add to it, the increase in labour charges and other operational charges has made it difficult to manage without hike in fare, he said and added that the last hike in fare was three years ago.
A meeting of all the four MDs of RTCs - KSRTC, BMTC, NEKRTC and NWKRTC-- will be held soon and based on the meeting a proposal will be sent to finance department explaining the additional funds that would be required for the operations. Based on the response on how much the finance department can observe the losses, a proposal for hiking the bus fares will be sent to the government.
Karnataka government, which is the final authority, will take a call on the quantum of hike, said Kalasad.
Published 12 February 2021, 14:13 IST