BENGALURU: Transport Minister Byrathi Suresh on Thursday told the Legislative Council that the four state-owned road transport corporations (RTCs) are suffering an annual loss of Rs 8,000 crore because of four consecutive hikes in the price of diesel and other petroleum products by the Centre.
This has left the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation, Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation, Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation and North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation in a situation where they don’t have enough funds to pay employees’ salaries, said the minister.
Suresh said the corporations did not increase bus fares in keeping with higher diesel prices. The government was considering increasing fares to make up for the losses, but was apprehensive about an uproar by Opposition parties, he said. “If bus fares are increased, the first opposition will come from Opposition parties,” he said. Suresh said his department was trying to convince CM DK Shivakumar to allow a fare hike, keeping in mind the survival of the corporations and the need to provide better services to passengers.
RTCs await Rs 5.6K crore dues
TNIE had reported that the state’s four RTCs are also awaiting payment of Rs 5,650.95 crore in dues under the Shakti scheme, which has recorded nearly 800crore free journeys since its launch in June 2023. The data was made available in a reply by Suresh during the monsoon session. He had said the four corporations had incurred an expenditure of Rs 20,955 crore under the scheme between June 11, 2023 and July 31, 2026. Against this, the government had released Rs 15,305 crore.
The minister also said the transport department had requested the finance department to clear the outstanding amount. The finance department had replied that there was no scope for providing additional funds to clear the pending amount.