Hyderabad: The loss-making Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) which was about to achieve its financial target during the just concluded fiscal year has again started facing financial woes owing to the recent surge in COVID-19 cases.
Due to the spike in the cases, the number of passengers travelling in RTC buses in the Greater Hyderabad Zone has been decreased significantly. It is likely to decrease further in the days to come.
The occupancy in RTC buses is decreased by 50 per cent during the last few weeks. Closure of the educational institutions too impacted its income adversely as RTC is losing about Rs.1 crore daily.
According to RTC officials, the Corporation did well financially after the resumption of its services from September to March.
However, due to surge in COVID-19 cases, the RTC income is decreasing once again.
The Executive Director of Greater Hyderabad Zone V Venkateshwarlu said the RTC revenue was about Rs. 2.7 cr. but due to the recent spike in the number of cases, the revenue decreased by Rs. 0.7 Cr.
V Venkateshwarlu said, “Currently the RTC plies 2400 of its own and 400 hired buses to run 100% of its services. We have not received any guidelines from the state government to decrease our operations. We are regularly sanitizing the buses and keeping them cleaned.”
The officials further said that the passengers are fearful to travel in RTC buses. However, they said, travelling in RTC buses with face mask is safe. Hands must be sanitized frequently.
The RTC services were resumed on September 25 last year after keeping them closed for six months.
