AP CM suggests strategy to RTC to increase revenue

Hyderabad, Jun 7 (UNI) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y S Rajsekhara Reddy today rejected the proposal of the state-owned APSRTC to raise bus fares.

Instead, the Chief Minister suggested a three-pronged strategy to increase the revenue of RTC like raising the occupancy ratio, improving the internal efficiency and plugging the loopholes in purchases, according to an official relase here.

Dr Reddy made it clear that there would be no hike in RTC fares following the increase in the prices of petroleum products.

When RTC Managing Director G Dinesh Reddy met Dr Reddy to put forward various proposals for a hike in the fares to meet the extra burden due to the hike in the prices of diesel, the Chief Minister told him that ''you have to absorb the extra burden by improving your efficiency and other ways of earning revenue. You should never think of hiking the fares.'' While agreeing to reimburse the loss to RTC due to various concessional passes to different categories to the tune of over Rs 450 crore, Dr Reddy, ruling out further financial assistance, said the RTC would have to absorb the additional burden by increasing its own efficiency and occupancy ratio.

The RTC Managing Director said the total burden to be absorbed would be Rs 337 crore per year and this financial year, it would be about Rs 305 crore.

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