Lucknow, 17 April: UP State Road Transport Corporation (UPSRTC) is set to lose about Rs 300 crore due to non-operation of passenger buses during lockdown phase 2. At present, all passenger services are closed till May 03 except for emergency bus services.
Managing Director (MD) of UPSRTC Rajshekhar on Friday said that all types of buses are closed till May 03 except the operation of emergency buses during the lockdown period. Sanitised buses at the behest of district administration to be used during lockdown period are being made available. In the meanwhile fewer workers and employees are coming to the bus depot and workshop. However, the status of the lockdown will be re-evaluated after April 20.
A senior official of the Corporation informed that the increase in lockdown period of 19 days has affected the sale of tickets worth about Rs 15 crore daily. Therefore, the lockdown-2 will cause huge loss of about Rs 300 crore to the Corporation.
He informed that now a new strategy is underway to deal with lockdown phase2. About 17 lakh passengers used to travel across the state by roadways buses. From these passengers’ use of transport buses for travel, daily 14 to 15 crores were being deposited in the account of UPSRTC. Out of this, 30 percent was spent on the salary of roadways personnel. Now the buses are not running, even then the daily expenditure is around Rs 06 crores. In such a situation it will be a big challenge to give the salary of the roadways employees for the month of April.
Significantly, the UPSRTC administration has sent a proposal for reimbursement to the state government for the lockdown period of the month of March, but no reply has been received yet. Therefore, the management is worried about the expenses to be incurred on UPSRTC.
