BENGALURU: In a bid to meet the increasing demand for government buses after the rollout of the Shakti scheme, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) will be adding 350 BS VI Express buses. These buses will be deployed in rural areas where students and villagers have limited means of travel.
A senior KSRTC official said, “Due to Covid, the bus corporation’s services incurred huge losses. We were handling operations without purchasing any new buses. However, after the launch of the Shakti scheme in June, there is a big demand for our services across the state and it is difficult to handle the surge with our current fleet.”
Currently, the four bus corporations of the state - KSRTC, KKRTC, NWKRTC and BMTC - in total, operate 24,352 buses in Karnataka, driving a total distance of 66.98 lakh km every day.
“We have called for tenders for the procurement of 350 BS VI buses, which will largely be used to cater to the demands of rural areas in the state,” he said.
The senior official said to meet passenger demand, they have refurbished over 700 old buses that have clocked over 10 lakh km, and added, “To meet the increasing demand, we have refurbished old buses for Rs 3 lakh. A new bus will cost Rs 40 lakh.”
KSRTC SLAPS FINE OF RS 5.25 L FOR TICKET-LESS TRAVEL
KSRTC has collected a fine of Rs 5.25 lakh for ticketless travel within Karnataka and neighbouring states from passengers. A press release from the bus corporation on Thursday, said that the checking staff who inspected 42,833 buses in November found that 3,285 passengers were travelling without tickets. The checking staff have identified 3,279 pilferage cases, in which the bus corporation lost revenue of Rs 74,334. They said that disciplinary action will be initiated against erring KSRTC staff who allowed the pilferage.