Andhra Pradesh Govt To Get 25 Per Cent Of APSRTC's Revenue, Switch To Electric Buses May Be Delayed

Beginning on 1 August 2022, the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) must give the state authorities 25 per cent of each month's earnings. The APSRTC will transfer from Rs 125 crore to Rs 135 crore to the state authorities each month as part of this agreement.

On 1 September, the state government will probably get the first payment.

Income sharing was proposed because of integrating APSRTC employees into the state government. Since the state government pays the salaries of the APSRTC staff, APSRTC should have to share its profits with them.

This arrangement will affect APSRTC's intentions to replace old buses with new ones.

The APSRTC earns roughly Rs 525 crore in revenue every month after increasing ticket prices and introducing the diesel cess.

Over the last thirty days, APSRTC's income has increased by around Rs 100 crore because of recent increases in ticket prices.

However, APSRTC must give state authorities an average of Rs 132 crore a month, preventing it from purchasing new buses.

The APSRTC has about 11,000 buses, and about 1,500 are reaching the end of their useful lives.

According to reports from The Economic Times, it will now be difficult for the agency to replace these buses with new ones. Plans to adopt electrical buses may be further delayed because of their high costs.

After giving 25 per cent of income to the state government, the APSRTC will probably have the amount necessary for day-to-day bills, including diesel, tyres, and other vital spare parts.

After the merger, the income sharing was expected to begin two years after the APSRTC had paid off all outstanding debts and received pending funds. The proposal, however, was not implemented because of Covid-19.

COVID-19 resulted in significant losses for APSRTC, even without salary charges. As a result, the state-run corporation could not pay its debt, and its financial situation is still fragile.

APSRTC has now reached a pre-Covid-19 level of operations, so the state government has decided to seize a share of the revenue from the APSRTC.