The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) has been waiting for the festival season to end so that it could hike the bus fares in all categories. With the festival season coming to an end, the corporation seems to be now pushing the proposal for charges to be hiked. The TSRTC will send the proposal in a day or two to the government for its approval and in all likely the state government will not say no to the proposal!
Since last five months, especially after the daily price rise of fuel rates, the TSRTC has been facing severe revenue crunch and huge losses. The hike is expected to help reduce the revenue loss to some extent. According to unofficial information, there were reports that the fare hike burden on commuters will be around Rs 1,000 crore. The proposal to revise the fares was discussed on Sunday by transport minister P Ajay Kumar with TSRTC Chairman Bajireddy Goverdhan, Managing Director VC Sajjanar and other officials. A decision on the proposal will be taken by Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. The proposal is likely to be placed before the state cabinet at its next meeting.
TSRTC had already submitted its proposal for fare hike to the minister but has now amended the same in view of last week’s drop in diesel prices. The price of diesel and petrol was reduced by Rs 10 and Rs 5 per litre respectively as the Centre cut the excise duty. The corporation chairman said while framing the revised proposal, they ensured that the common man is not overburdened by the hike.
The state government will decide the increase in bus fares. The hike will be around 15 paise to 30 paise per km. It is being said that the government may not consider hiking prices for the city buses and ordinary buses (Palle Velugu) plying in rural areas. It is being said that the hike will be higher in luxury and long-distance buses. But TSRTC will be submitting proposal for increase in bus charged for all the services!
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