Following the recent unification of minimum bus fare, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) witnessed an increase in revenue.
The minimum charge at KSRTC buses was increased to Rs 7, on par with that of private buses, on Wednesday. The revenue generated on Friday alone was Rs 6.5 crore.
Due to this hike, the fare increased by Re 1 in every stages. On December 22, the revenue was Rs 5.97 crore, which then increased to Rs 6.5 crore on December 23, recording an increase of Rs 54.4 lakh in a single day.
The KSRTC fare was cut to Rs 6 from Rs 7 in March, resulting in a loss of Rs 25 lakh. The present increase is expected to reduce the crisis to some extent.
The KSRTC has decided to terminate the schedules which could garner only less than Rs 10,000 a day. However, after the fare revision, the single day collection of some of these schedules crossed Rs 10,000.
The increase in the number of passengers also helped boost collection.
In Kozhikode zone alone, the revenue jumped to Rs 1 crore after rate unification, from Rs 80 lakh. Ernakulam, Kollam, Thiruvananthapuram Central and Kannur depots have recorded an increase of Rs 1-2 lakh.
