‘Inevitable’: KSRTC proposes 15-20% hike in bus fare, says else can’t survive | Bengaluru News

BENGALURU: Terming the bus fare hike as inevitable, chairman of Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) S R Srinivas said the board of the corporation has passed a resolution on revising bus fare.
He said that the state govt will be approached to hike the bus fare by 15-20%. Calling bus fare revision inevitable, Srinivas said that without fare hike, the road transport corporation cannot survive.
“Last time, the fare revision was done in 2019-20. At that time, diesel price was Rs 60 per litre and now it has crossed Rs 93 per litre. There has been a substantial increase in the operational cost due to an increase in the salary of staff, maintenance and others. KSRTC is providing essential services and fare revision is required to stay afloat,” he said. Srinivas disclosed in the current financial year, the corporation had a loss of Rs 295 crore.
He added that the corporation has a fleet size of 8,000 buses, and most buses have run 9 lakh to 12 lakh kms. About 450 AC buses have run beyond 20 lakh kms. “Considering these facts, there is a requirement for inducting new buses, which cannot be done without fare revision. Being an autonomous institution, we cannot rely on the govt every time,” he said.
On the proposed move, causing more burden on male passengers, the minister said that under Shakti Scheme, the state govt is reimbursing the expenditures incurred on providing bus services. Similarly, the state govt is also providing services at a concessional rate for students, soldiers, physically-challenged people, and others. He added that the fare revision will also result in increased expenditure under Shakti Scheme, which will be borne by the govt.