Hyderabad: A bus fare hike is set to hit commuters in Telangana with TSRTC managing director V.C. Sajjanar on Wednesday urging the government to accept a proposal to that extent across all services in the state.
Addressing a press conference in the presence of transport minister P Ajay Kumar and corporation chairman Bajireddy Goverdhan, Sajjanar said a fare hike was necessary to pull the RTC out of losses.
Sajjanar said “we propose a hike of 25 paise per kilometre for ordinary and Palle Velugu buses and 30 paise per kilometre for exprss, deluxe, Garuda, and other services. The last hike of 20 paise was in December 2019 but that didn't help much because of Covid.”
He further said “the proposed hike may not bail the corporation out of its losses, but at least it will help in running it well.”
Ajay Kumar said “revenue from tickets is necessary for RTC’s survival. Despite inflation in prices of diesel and petrol since 2019, we have maintained our tariff. The corporation has suffered losses to the tune of Rs 2,000 crore in the last two years. They have now come down to Rs 600 crore.”
The proposed increase will help to offset losses of Rs 4,260 crore that was incurred during the lockdown.
Sajjanar ruled out privatizing bus routes and sale of RTC assets.
