Similar in name only; Kerala RTC far behind Karnataka in revenue, profit
Though Kerala State Road Transport Corporation and Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation share the abbreviation KSRTC, the revenue of both the institutions differ a lot. Among the 26 state road transport corporations, Karnataka is in first position in terms of revenue and profit. On the contrary, Kerala is 26th in the list but takes no action to overcome the loss.
Karnataka has been trying to foster their business for the past two decades. Their 23,829 buses are making profit. They also started 5 Volvo bus services to Kerala on March 26 and has won the Award of Excellence of the Union Ministry for Urban Development eight times in a row.
Karnataka RTC has a history of reducing their loss step by step. Their total loss in the 1989-90 financial year was Rs 194.4 crore, which they reduced to mere 0.2 percent of the revenue next year. This made Karnataka the most profitable state road transport corporation in the country.
On the other hand, Kerala RTC had a loss of 193.8 crore in 1989-90 financial year. It became 18.2 percent of the revenue the next year. This is recorded in the 1992 report of the Association of State Road Transport Undertakings. As per the CAG report in 2016, the loss made by KSRTC is Rs 123 crore per month.
Even the accurate number of buses is available in Kerala RTC. Approximately 5000 buses are on road and more than 1400 buses are out of service. 16,000 drivers and equal number of conductors are on duty but 125 new buses are not conducting service owing to lack of drivers and conductors.
Strategies of Karnataka RTC
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- Driver-cum-conductor system was implemented for the first time in the country.
- The travel distance in cities was reduced instead of changing minimum bus fare.
- New vehicles were introduced from time to time.
- Eliminated unnecessary passes and distributed more passes to students.
- Experts were appointed for ensuring excellent service.
