Bengaluru: With more commuters preferring app based cabs and Metro trains, Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation has been incurring losses.
Recently the state government had announced a subsidy of Rs 100 crore to shore up its finances, but the city transport provider claims the money was not adequate as a major chunk of it was spent on clearing the pension dues of its former employees.
“The BMTC has an existing ridership of 50 lakh passengers per day and it should meet the projected demand to maintain the current share of public transport. But of late we have been incurring losses. The money released by the government was spent on clearing the long standing dues for retired employees and also those who died in harness. We need more to come out of losses" a senior BMTC official told Deccan Chronicle.
In the year 2017-18, 38 BMTC employees died and and 127 retired. It had to clear the dues of hospitals and those related to students and free bus passes.
The rise in diesel prices also affected the corporation and its proposal for a fare hike was shot down by the state government.
The corporation now wants to approach the government provide Rs 260 crore to come out of the losses.
