Bus fares go up in Telangana as TSRTC imposes diesel cess

Hyderabad, June 8 (IANS) state-owned Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) on Wednesday decided to impose additional diesel cess, revising the fares for all services but exempted travellers in Greater Hyderabad.The corporation imposed the additional diesel cess in slabs of Rs.5 and above depending on the distance travelled by the passengers, in all types of services in districts and long distance services.For Pallevelugu or rural services, the cess will be Rs 5 to 45 for 250 km. Passengers travelling in Express buses will be charged Rs 5 to Rs 90 extra for 500 km. The slab will be Rs 5-125 for 500 km in Deluxe, Rs 10-130 for 500 km in Super Luxury, and Rs 10 to Rs 170 for 500 km in A/C services.In the case of Pallevelugu services, there will be no change in the minimum fare of Rs 10 so as not to burden the short distance travellers. The diesel cess in Greater Hyderabad limits has not been increased.The revised fares will come into effect from the first departure of June 9. Those passengers who have reserved their tickets in advance will not be levied the revised fares and the difference in fare will not be collected.In another move, TSRTC hiked student bus pass fares in twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and rural areas of districts. It pointed out that the last increase in bus pass fares was done in 2019. Almost for three years, the bus pass charges have not increased even though the diesel price has increased multifold, it said.Stating that additional cess has become inevitable due to abnormal increase in diesel price, TSRTC Chairman Baji Reddy Goverdhan and Managing Director V.S. Sajjanar appealed to people to continue their patronage.The TSRTC ferries more than 30 lakh passengers and about 12 Lakh students i.e. about 42 lakh plus commuters each day across various destinations in Telangana and to the neighbouring states. The Corporation buses use nearly 6 lakh litres of diesel each day.The price of bulk HSD oil, which was Rs 84.75 per litre in December 2021, was increased to Rs 118.73 per litre in March 2022. The increased cost of fuel has put a huge financial burden on the Corporation, which is already reeling under losses and is currently incurring a loss of nearly Rs 5 crore every day due to the increase in diesel costs.This is the second diesel cess levied in three months. With effect from April 9, 2022, the Corporation had levied a nominal diesel cess of Rs 2 per ticket in Pallevelugu and City ordinary services and Rs 5 per ticket in all other services, irrespective of distance travelled. The TSRTC chairman said this cess could not cover the increased cost on account of increased diesel prices. "Hence, it has become inevitable to levy diesel cess which will be more for passengers travelling more distance in our buses and less for passengers travelling for a short distance in our buses," he said.
--IANS ms/vd

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