Within a week of the Telangana government effecting a steep increase in the fares of its Road Transport Corporation (RTC) bus services, the Andhra Pradesh government has also followed the suit.
Minister for Information and Public Relation Perni Nani on Saturday announced an increase of 20 paise per kilometre for all the district services and 10 paise for Palle Velugu (rural services) and city buses.
He said chief minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy had given his nod for the RTC fare hike after the APSRTC board took the decision in this regard.
He said the accumulated losses of APSRTC were to the tune of Rs 6,735 crore. The corporation has a debt burden to the extent of Rs 2,995 crore, besides outstanding payments of around Rs 3,740 crore.
The minister said the steep increase in the diesel price, which was Rs 50 in 2015 and reached Rs 75 per litre, has also caused huge burden on the RTC.
“The increased salaries of the employees and pay revision commission arrears added to the financial burden of the RTC,” he said.’
Stating that the RTC was on the verge of bankruptcy, Nani said the corporation was incurring a loss of Rs 1200 crore every year and the debt burden was mounting by Rs 100 crore every month.
“Hence, the bus fare hike,” he said.
