AP Road Transport Corp wants to hike bus passenger fares by 30%, seeks govt nod

The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) has appealed to the state government to increase bus fares by 30% to overcome their losses. The corporation has incurred a loss of Rs 6.53 for every kilometre and is in debt worth Rs 6,455 crore to various lenders. 

The Vice-Chairman and Managing Director of APSRTC, NV Surendra Babu, at a press conference in Vijayawada on Friday, said the corporation has reached a state where they are even forced to use the employee funds for daily operations. “Now our only option is to increase fares, which we haven't done since 2015. We hope people will understand our situation.”

For the financial year 2018-19, the gross expenditure of the Corporation stood at Rs 7025.27 crore as against a revenue of Rs 5995.50 crore. The Corporation has been able to increase its revenue over the past five years noted the MD, but also pointed out that the expenses have increased proportionally. This pushed the Corporation into losses every year. The losses in 2017-18 stood at Rs 1400 crore, which the Corporation has managed to bring down to Rs 1029.77 crore this year, said the official. 

The losses come despite APSRTC having the highest occupancy ratio of 78% among state transport units in the country. 

The Corporation has taken loans from various banks like HUDCO, CCS, SBT and SRBS that stand at Rs 3380 crore. Apart from this, other liabilities include provident fund, leave encashment arrears etc., which stand at Rs 3065 crore. 

Babu told media that the increase in diesel price by over 40% since 2015-16 has left the Corporation with an additional burden of Rs 600 crore annually. Apart from this, the Corporation has taxes and interest on loans to pay.

“There are also dues pending from the government for operating buses to Polavaram, meetings and deekshas etc.,” said the MD. There are about 1,666 buses that the Corporation wants to be replaced and plans are afoot to purchase 1,000 new buses. “We need Rs 416.5 crore for replacing old buses and Rs 250 crore to augment our fleet,” said Babu.