WARANGAL: The TSRTC, which has been facing losses for several years, had recently started making profits but the Coronavirus pandemic is playing spoilsport and pushing it back into losses.
Due to the lockdown imposed by the government, the depots in the urban areas are running city buses during the lockdown relaxation period. The rural depots, which usually ferry people between villages are not finding many takers.
The Jangaon bus depot with 128 services every day used to earn Rs 15 lakh to Rs 16 lakh but it fell to Rs 12 lakh to Rs 13 lakh in April due to a drop in the number of passengers due to the Coronavirus effect. The public is showing very little interest in taking the RTC buses due to fear of contracting Covid-19.
A total of 95 per cent of the buses were limited to depots in the lockdown leaving the company with huge losses. The loss incurred so far has been Rs 90 lakh in six days at Rs 15 lakh per day. Cargo services also declined because of the lockdown effect.
B. Lakshmidharma, depot Mmanager, Jangaon said the impact of the pandemic on the RTC has been severe. The depot used to earns over Rs 15 lakh per day but with a limited number of services being run due to the lockdown, the revenue is coming in at just Rs 50,000 to Rs 60,000, he said.
The Bhupalpally depot too is facing a similar situation. The depot used to run 80 buses during the normal days but it is now running only 20.
Half of the services were cancelled due to no takers even before the lockdown began. The cargo service is returning zero revenue. The depot which used to receive Rs 10 lakh to Rs 11 lakh of revenue every day is now receiving a meagre Rs 50,000.
As a result of this situation, the survival of the corporation is in danger of becoming questionable if the pandemic intensifies in the future.
