With market pricing of diesel sold to bulk consumers, the state-run transport corporations across the country will be under pressure. They will either have to revise the fares upwards or bear the additional burden if state governments do not bail them out with a subsidy.
Private service providers on inter-state as well as inter-city routes are already planning to revise their fares. The Karnataka government might turn out to be the first one to react to the development as it is planning to effect rise in bus fares by as early as Monday and the calculations for the same are under way, officials close to the development said.
The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) and Bangalore Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) would incur an additional expenditure of Rs 20 crore and about Rs 15 crore per month respectively for purchase of diesel alone following the hike in diesel prices. The loss making Kerala Road Transport Corporation [KSRTC] will incur an additional burden of Rs 10-12 crore a month for diesel alone following the hike in diesel price.
The Andhra Pradesh SRTC, which runs around 22,000 buses, while is observing the impact, is also focusing on reducing costs through better maintenance and utilization of its assets. Over the last nine years, APSRTC has recorded accumulated loss of Rs 2,800 crore and increased the fares by 12% in 2012.
The diesel price revisions in the current fiscal have resulted in an annual loss of Rs 381.81 crore to the transport undertakings in Tamil Nadu. As they are apprehending an additional Rs 206 crore towards diesel expenditure during the current financial year between September 14, 2012, and March 31, 2013, “increasing ticket rates” is being looked at as on option.
However, the government has decided to bear the additional expenses and Rs 200 crore were allocated for this purpose.
In the eastern states too, the situation has put the state corporations in a fix. In West Bengal, the state run transport sector might face an additional burden of Rs 10 crore annually, according to West Bengal transport minister Madan Mitra. “In the current scenario, the state government has been providing an annual subsidy of Rs 600 crore to the five state-run transport corporations. This will make the situation worse,” Mitra said.
The beleaguered Odisha Road Transport Corporation (OSRTC), currently reeling under an accumulated loss of Rs 250 crore, is expected to take a hit of more than Rs one crore annually. Also, as the government had allowed 9 to 10% hike in bus fares in October last year, it is difficult for them to hike the fares again.
In Assam, the fares of public transport in were hiked by around 50 to 60% in November 2012 following a Rs 5 a litre hike in diesel price. Still the motor transport association in the state feels another hike is imminent.
In Chhattisgarh, the Truckers Association’s plan to curtail tariff for carrying iron ore from NMDC facilities in Bastar region to steel industries is likely to be derailed by the new development. The bus owners association of the State is also planning to intensify its demand of revising bus fares.
In the National capital region, the truckers association has decided to absorb the hike currently, but has clearly said that if the prices go up each month, the charges would go up. Also, the Bus owners association is planning to revise rates as the government has also raised CNG rates recently. “The burden of the rising fuel prices has to be transferred to the consumers,” Delhi Bus Owners Association Harish Sabarwal said.
* State Transport Undertakings (STUs) consume 2.1 million tonnes of diesel annually
* The price deregulation to cost them Rs 2,462 crore more, annually.
* Many STUs have already revised fares in the light of Rs 5/litre hike in September 2012
* STUs left with either bearing burden or revising fares again