Bus fare hike: PRTC to garner an extra ₹75 lakh a month

PATIALA : The Punjab government’s decision to increase the bus fare by 2 paisa per kilometre will help the cash-strapped Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) generate an extra ₹75 lakh per month even as bus travelling will get costlier.

The state transport department issued a notification on this last Friday. The move will add ₹2.5 lakh to the ₹1.14 crore daily revenue of the PRTC which existing monthly gross income is pegged at ₹34.2 crore.

With the fresh hike, the travelling cost in an ordinary bus will be ₹1.04 per kilometre against the previous ₹1.02 per kilometre.

The fare of HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) buses is ₹1.24 per kilometre against ₹1.22 per kilometre , which is 20% more than the ordinary buses.

While those travelling in an integral coach will have to pay ₹1.87 per kilometre, the charges of a super-integral coach will be ₹2.08 per kilometre, which is double the fare of an ordinary bus.

PRTC managing director Manjit Singh Narang said the additional revenue will be a boon for the corporation, helping it bridge the gap between its income and expenses. “The gap between the PRTC’s income and expenses is pegged at around ₹1 crore per month. Now, we are going to generate around an extra ₹75 lakh per month, which will help in bringing down the losses to ₹25 lakh per month,” Narang said.

For the first time in past one decade, the PRTC is running its full fleet of 1,073 buses in its nine depots –Ludhiana, Kapurthala, Chandigarh, Patiala, Bathinda, Budhlada, Barnala, Faridkot and Sangrur.

In May 2017, the PRTC board of directors gave a green signal to add to a fleet 250 buses.