The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) has announced a cut of Re 1 in the minimum charges for ordinary bus services with effect from March 1. This is the largest reduction in fares announced by KSRTC.
But fast passenger, super-fast and express services have been exempted, Chief Minister Oommen Chandy clarified here after a meeting of the state cabinet.
SLIDE IN OIL PRICES
The decision to cut ordinary bus charges follows the thinking in the state cabinet that gains from the overall slide prices in petroleum products should be passed on to the consumer, Chandy said.
The new minimum charge for ordinary buses will be Rs 6. A corresponding reduction will be brought into effect for tickets for various recognised stage distances for these carriers.
This is expected to bring down the daily revenue of the public sector transport utility by Rs 27 lakh. An estimated 22 lakh passengers are expected to benefit, Transport Minister, Thiruvanchoor Radhakrishnan, said.
The state government proposes to hold talks with private operators to notify a reduction in minimum charges with respect to their schedules also, the Chief Minister said.
DAILY REVENUE
The KSRTC operates a fleet of 3,500 ordinary buses. The reduced minimum charge for these buses will translate into a concession of Rs 6 crore on a monthly basis and Rs 72 crore annually.
This is the biggest cut back in minimum charges ever attempted by the KSRTC, the Chief Minister said. The last time it revised the rate was in April last when it raised it by Re 1 to Rs 7.
Despite having revised the minimum charges many times, daily collections have totted up to Rs 5.25 crore latest. Five years ago, this was Rs 4.25 crore.
In order to operate on a no-profit, no-loss basis, the daily collections must reach a threshold level of Rs 7 crore. But this target has proved elusive for the utility most of the time.
Worryingly enough, the utility has learnt that it has started increasingly losing the passenger's trust with the number patronising it on a daily basis coming down to 28 lakh from 32 lakh five years ago.