"We had a board meeting two days ago. We have proposed a hike of 15% to 20%. The rest is up to the discretion of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. If KSRTC is to survive, fare hike is inevitable," Srinivas said. Noting that the prices of fuel and auto parts have gone up substantially, the KSRTC chairperson said the fare hike has not been effected since 2019.
"The salary revision of the KSRTC employees has not been done since 2020. Hence, increasing the ticket price is necessary." According to him, the corporation has incurred a loss of INR 295 crore in the last three months. The transport corporation has also submitted a proposal to purchase 40 new Volvo buses to the government. He added that so far 600 regular buses have been procured.
To a question whether the hike would burden male passengers since women are allowed to travel free of cost under the 'Shakti' scheme, Srinivas said there is no question of putting burden only on men. The KSRTC chairperson said the state government is bearing the expenses of women travelling in the buses.
Disclaimer: The copyright of this article belongs to the original author. Reposting this article is solely for the purpose of information dissemination and does not constitute any investment advice. If there is any infringement, please contact us immediately. We will make corrections or deletions as necessary. Thank you.
