Bengaluru
The Karnataka government has decided to reimburse the cost of the free women travel Shakti scheme to the Road Transport Corporations(RTCs) the first week of every month, starting from August based on the number of “zero tickets” issued to the commuters.
“We have decided to reimburse for the zero tickets in the first week of every month starting from August. June month reimbursement will be done in August’s first week. Timely payment to the RTCs will help the corporations and this will ensure there will not be any financial burden because of the scheme,” Transport Minister Ramalinga Reddy said.
The government has decided to reimburse the cost of free travel to the corporations based on the zero ticket, or data from Shakti smart cards. The government routinely reimburses the subsidy provided for bus passes, apart from special grants and financial assistance. The government has reimbursed ₹3,606.52 crore to the four corporations from April 2022 to March 2023.
In the recent state budget, the government has allocated ₹2,800 crores for the state government’s flagship scheme. However, in the budget, the government had not made any commitment to monthly reimbursement of the tickets issued by the RTCs. “The budget allocation has been set aside till March 2024, for about nine months, making it amply clear that ticket fares are reimbursed monthly,” Mr. Ramalinga Reddy added. The RTCs are currently foregoing daily revenue.
The ticket value of women passengers who travelled starting from 11 June, when the scheme was inaugurated to 30 July is ₹687. 49 crore, and 29.37 crore “zero-tickets” have been issued during this period.
