VIJAYAWADA: The financial woes of beleaguered Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) is set to become worse with continuous rise of fuel prices and the revenue share demand from the state government.
The state-run transport corporation had to give revenue share to the state government in lieu of merger of employees into the government. However, with 40 per cent rise in fuel prices in last one month, increase in maintenance costs, mounting debts and short fall in revenues, financial crisis is looming large on APSRTC.
As the situation is precarious, sources said that the APSRTC might go for ticket price hike very soon after getting government nod. Taking the que from neighbouring TSRTC which increased ticket prices three times in last one month, APSRTC is also considering the ticket price hike, said sources.
Government took the salary bill by absorbing the employees into public transport department. The initial arrangement was that the state government will take revenue share from operations for two years so that the APSRTC will clear the debts and become self-sustainable. However, soon after the merger was done, Covid-19 pandemic hit hard and APSRTC hardly earned any revenues during the last two years.
As the two-year arrangement was completed by January 2022, the state government has been asking for revenue share. According to sources, the state government has been asking for 50 per cent of revenue which would come around ₹200 crore per month. The APSRTC is negotiating with the government to reduce the amount to 25 per cent so that it can meet at least the expenses without going for fresh loans.
The APSRTC has managed to clear about ₹1,500 crore debts in last two years. Th outstanding that includes loans from financial institutions and pending arrears to present and retired employees would be more than Rs 5,000 crore. Along with the prices of diesel, prices of spare parts, lubricants and other essentials required for maintenance of buses have also gone up by 25 to 50 per cent in last two years.
The vice-chairman and MD of APSRTC, Ch Dwaraka Tirumala Rao, said according to the initial arrangement of merger, the corporation had to give revenue share to government. He said they are working on an arrangement on revenue sharing. On fuel price hike, Rao said they are assessing the situation and will come up with a solution in a day or two.
