The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) continues to struggle with low daily average traffic earnings and occupancy ratios. The losses have led the ailing transport juggernaut to contemplate removing between 500 and 600 buses from its city operations. If the move goes through, this will be the second time after the TSRTC strike of 2019 that the Greater Hyderabad Zone would see a reduction in the the number of buses on the roads.
According to the latest official data, the daily average traffic earnings for the month of September stood at ₹9.31 crore, which is lower than what it earned in February ₹10.97 crore — the time when the revenue earning peaked. The figures for September, though an improvement, remain low, and are far from break even.
“Diesel prices have increased by ₹22-23 over the past few months, which is the main reason for losses. This by itself is taking a toll on the revenues. The number of commuters opting for the buses in this pandemic situation is low, but slowly recovering. There are the operation costs — salaries, oil, tyre and spare parts cost. There, however, is an improvement on many performance parameters. We are encouraging more people to travel by RTC buses,” a TSRTC official said.
Official figures show the occupancy ratio for the month of September dipped to 59% from 64% in July. The daily average volume of operations for the same month is 30 lakh km. This is a significant improvement from the 8 lakh km clocked in May this year.
Sources suggest the TSRTC’s Greater Hyderabad Zone requires a daily revenue of a little over ₹4 crore to break even. However, the per day revenue stands at approximately ₹2.50 crore.
