Hyderabad: In the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, many sectors have been badly affected financially. In order to avoid mass gathering during the deadly second wave of COVID-19, many people sought to travel on their own transport or by sharing rather travel in buses or public transport.
As a result, TSRTC has suffered a loss of Rs.900 crore during the period of April-July. Already the corporation was running into losses.
It has to be noted that two years ago the state government increased Rs.0.20 paisa on a ticket for every kilometre. As a result, the corporation earned revenue of Rs.14 crore. During this period, the TSRTC was able to control the losses.
However, the losses mounted again in the last one and half years with the emergence of the coronavirus pandemic and the subsequent lockdowns which resulted in the buses being confined to the bus depots.
Apart from this, the corporation had to bear additional costs with the rise in the prices of petroleum products.
An official of the TSRTC said that during the April-July first quarter of this fiscal year, the transport corporation has suffered a loss of over Rs.900 crores. The financial analysts have estimated an average loss of Rs.225 crores every month, he said.
An official has said that the corporation has demanded the state government to increase the travel charges.
It was noted that in the past year, an additional burden of Rs.2 crores was inflicted on the corporation with the rise in diesel prices. With the continuous rise in diesel prices, the corporation is unable to come out of the losses.
The officials said that 3-4 months back, Rs.14 was the expenses of an RTC on one kilometre which has now increased to Rs.18.The use of bio-diesel is also being considered to reduce losses.