RTC fares, power tariff may be hiked soon

To tide over losses due to diesel price hike, COVID impact

People in the State are likely to see hike in transport fares as well as power tariff in the coming days.

The State Cabinet will soon take a call on the representations made by the managements of the TSRTC and power utilities in this direction. The financially strapped TSRTC which has been permitted to raise loans by the State government reported to the government about the burden imposed on the corporation by the steep rise in petroleum prices.

The corporation was incurring an additional ₹550 crore on account of rise in price of diesel by more than ₹20 a litre. Coupled with this was the steep rise in the prices of spares like tyres and tubes which have taken the burden on the corporation past ₹600 crore. Incidentally, the government had in principle announced its decision to raise the RTC fares in the Assembly, but deferred the decision due to COVID-19 pandemic. The losses suffered by the corporation were estimated to be in excess of ₹3,000 crore since the onset of the pandemic.