Bengaluru: Just a week after increasing the BMTC fare by a whopping 15%, the state government has in principle approved the proposal to revise the ticket fares of the Karnataka State Transport Corporation, EKRTC Gulbarga and NWKRTC, Hubli. Transport Minister and KSRTC Chairman Ramalinga Reddy said the fare will go up by 7-8% shortly.
Mr Reddy said on Friday that KSRTC and other transport corporations proposed 15% fare revision in line with BMTC. But the government has permitted them to increase the fare by half of the BMTC fare hike.
“We want transport corporations to operate on no-loss no-profit module. At the same time, it should not burden the passengers," he said. He said if the government gives a subsidy, corporations are ready to slash the fare. But it is not possible to do so.
He said the BMTC has a loan of Rs 660 crore. “Rs 60 crore has been paid in the form of loan interest. I have directed the corporation not to avail of any new loans and to streamline the financial condition," he said.
"Due to the revision of staff wages and increase in diesel prices in 2013-14, BMTC has incurred loss of Rs 137.88 crore. This forced it to revise the ticket fare," he said.
All state transport corporations have been told to improve passenger satisfaction levels by offering good service. "We are taking a cautious approach over improving the financial condition,” he said.
