HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport corporation has set a record in incurring losses. In the financial year 2011-12, it incurred a loss of Rs 585 crore, mainly due to the Sakala Janula Samme and the Sankranti advance to employees.According to officials, the corporation has never witnessed such huge losses seen since its establishment. The previous highest loss was Rs 514 crore in 2009-2010. The loss in 2010-2011 was Rs 317 crore.The officials said the Sakala Janula Samme and the Telangana movement were the main reasons for the losses in 2011-2012.Over 50,000 RTC employees went on strike during the Sakala Janula Samme which went on for 42 days in Telangana, paralysing the services in all the 10 districts in the region.The accumulated loss, in addition to liabilities in the form of bank loans, is `2,700 crore. The corporation borrowed Rs 800 crore from Hudco and banks by mortgaging its properties.The loss per kilometre, which was Rs 1 in 2010-11, went up to Rs 2.04 in 2011-2012. The gross earning is Rs 23.24 and the expenditure Rs 25.28 per kilometre in 2011-2012. In April the first month of the new financial year 2012-13, the RTC earned Rs 10.29 crore, chiefly on account of the summer vacation and marriage season.The public sector undertaking has failed to improve the passenger occupancy ratio in the face of stiff competition from licensed and unlicensed private operators across the state.The occupancy ratio is 70 against the needed 80 percent.Union leaders attribute the situation to government’s sympathy and softness for private operators.It is also alleged that RTC officials failed to mount adequate pressure on the government to check illicit operations by private bus operators.
Comments
0 comment