The High Court order directing the KSRTC to immediately withdraw operation of low-floor AC bus services being operated from Ernakulam to other cities in the state has come as a double blow to the already shrinking revenue of the state carrier.
Just over a week after the Supreme Court ruled against providing diesel to the KSRTC at subsidised rates which pushed up the expenditure of the KSRTC to over Rs 80 lakh a day, the High Court on Tuesday directed the suspension of the profitable inter-city services being operated from Ernakulam.
According to the officials of KSRTC, the order is a major setback to the Corporation which was earning an average of Rs 14 lakh from these services alone every week.
The average collection of the inter-city low- floor services a day was Rs 2 lakh, which contributes 30 per cent of the total low-floor bus revenue received by the KSRTC daily. For every extra kilometre, the KSRTC was able to generate a revenue of Rs 45.
The Ernakulam-Kozhikode buses used to cover 212.5 km daily. Since the KSRTC was operating three such services daily, it used to cover a total of 637.5 km.
The distance covered by the Ernakulam-Nilambur trips was 190 kms, covering a total of 570 km a day. While the Ernakulam-Pala service covered 75 km daily, the Ernakulam-Kottayam services covered 76 kms a day.
As per a government order of November, 2012, it was decided that the KSRTC low-floor AC buses which were operating within the city limits would be extended to Thiruvananthapuram, Kozhikode, Nilambur, Kottayam and Pala. The buses started operating inter-city buses from Ernakulam on December 2012.
Except for some drip in its revenue during the monsoon season this year and the hartals, the KSRTC could boast of having operated the inter-city services almost every day.
As per records available with the KSRTC, it used to get an average collection in the range of Rs 23,000-27,000 as average collection for each route. The KSRTC officials also confirmed that almost all services on the Ernakulam-Thiruvananthapuram, Ernakulam-Kozhikode and Ernakulam-Nilambur route had registered a marginal increase in collection compared to the initial months of its operation.
Only, the Ernakulam Pala and Ernakulam Kottayam services which were operating in the city, saw a dip in revenue in comparison to its collection in the January-February-March months.
The patronage of passengers who started opting for long-distance low-floor AC buses also increased by nearly 40 per cent compared to the patronage in the city-limit services. Officials at the Ernakulam depot said that the order issued by the High Court would also be a major setback to the passengers who were also hugely benefiting from the services.
“Initially, the buses used to operate only with 70 per cent of the buses in full capacity. “However, now we are making huge profits as the buses were operated in full seating capacity with standing passengers too.
“The decision won’t just be a loss for the KSRTC collection, it will be a major disadvantage to the daily users who had started depending on the services daily,” an official in charge of the JNNURM services at Ernakulam said.
Services Likely to be Discontinued
With the High Court directive, the inter-district low-floor bus services are likely to be discontinued. The KSRTC officials at the head office on Tuesday told Express that they would implement the High Court order once they get a copy of the judgment.
“We have alerted the Ernakulam office about the High Court order. However, we cannot ask them to withdraw the services before getting a copy of the order,” the officials at Thiruvananthapuram said.