The hike in fares of State Transport buses has come as a real shocker in Maharashtra. The ST buses, marked by their red colour, are considered as common man’s vehicle for inter-city transport. The ST corporation, which manages the passenger transport in state, has introduced new fares from this month. Obviously, the public which was already reeling under the weight of inflation, has to bear additional burden, detrimental to the economy of the state. In all possibility, it might encourage illegal and worse, dangerous clandestine transport by private vehicles. It is a known fact that ST buses reach out to the most far away villages and hamlets in state, which are hitherto never approached by any other public transport utility.
The fares have been hiked by four per cent especially at a bad time. This is festival season in Maharashtra. The Ganesh festival has just concluded but Navratri, Dasara and Diwali are in the queue. The demand for oil, vegetables, cooking gas and other commodities touch a new high in this time. This is second fare hike of buses within six months. With this, the Maharashtra State Transport Corporation has become costliest public transport utility in India.
It might be interesting to see why ST buses have to undergo the hike in fares each time there is a hike in fuel prices, alienating its loyal passengers. The biggest detriment for the buses proves to be toll collection at booths, which is in place for a decade now. The government vehicles, including that of legislators, parliamentarians etc., are exempted from the toll charges. The same concession is not given to ST buses who have to shell out about Rs 200 Crores as toll charges on all roads in the Maharashtra. Then, the corporation pays Rs 700 per year to state government in the form of passenger tax.
About 40 per cent of ST corporation’s revenue is spent on paying salaries and conveyances of its staff. Another major portion is spent on purchase of fuels. Since the government of India has deregularised petroleum prices, the fluctuation in prices have become a routine affair. Another bane prove to be large number of concessions offered to passengers. The accredited journalists get 100 per cent rebate while senior citizens get 50 per cent off on ticket prices. Students are given likewise passes for monthly travel. Since majority of passengers, who are supposed to pay regular prices, prefer private buses, trains or own vehicles, the revenues have seen downward trend. Even when the revenue went up thanks to the hiked prices, profit margin of the corporation has never reached satisfactory level in the last two decades.
In this situation, it is really sad that the ST corporation choses to increase the burden on passengers instead of thinking of novel ways to pile up its revenues.
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