Sankranti specials incur Rs 5 crore loss to APSRTC

Demonetisation has dealt a big blow to the State-owned APSRTC as the special buses operated during Sankranti festival have failed to fetch revenue for the cash-starved corporation.
State-owned APSRTC. (File photo)
State-owned APSRTC. (File photo)

VIJAYAWADA: Demonetisation has dealt a big blow to the State-owned APSRTC as the special buses operated during Sankranti festival have failed to fetch revenue for the cash-starved corporation.

According to RTC officials, this year, the corporation operated only 1,714 special buses from Hyderabad against the earlier announcement of 2,510 special buses in the festive season to clear the passenger rush. Special buses were operated to Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Tirupati, Kurnool, Rajamahendravaram, Amalapuram, Nellore, Bengaluru and Chennai for a week from Jan 6 to 13.

The corporation has set a revenue target of Rs 15 crore by operating 2,510 special bus services during the Sankranti festival. But at the ground level, the situation was quite different as most of the services operated to longer destinations witnessed low passenger rush causing Rs 5 crore dip in revenue for the corporation. During the last Sankranti season, the APSRTC netted a revenue of Rs 13 crore by operating 2,268 special buses.

Demonetisation messes with holiday plans

A senior RTC official on condition of anonymity told Express that demonetisation is considered to be the main reason for the dip in holiday plans in the festive season. This year, very few commuters from Hyderabad travelled to their native places in twin Godavari, Krishna and Guntur districts.

For instance, the corporation has managed to operate only 307 special bus services to twin Godavari districts against the demand of 465 services. Only 300 special bus services were operated to Vijayawada against the announcement of 595 services, he said. “Post demonetisation, the APSRTC had incurred a loss of Rs 17 crore and now Rs 5 crore dip in revenue during the Sankranti festive season added to the woes of the corporation,” he added.

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