Telangana State Road Transport Corporation Bus (File Photo | EPS)
The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) and the two electricity power distribution companies (DISCOMs) in the state have gone belly-up. The ruling class has never allowed them to raise either the bus fares or the power tariffs for fear of political backlash. The power utilities have an accumulated loss of about Rs 36,000 crore and the TSRTC has suffered a double whammy—a 52-day-old unsuccessful strike by employees in 2019 and then the two phases of Covid-19.
The pandemic alone inflicted a loss of Rs 2,600 crore. After the strike, KCR invited employees for lunch at his residence and promised an infusion of Rs 1,000 crore annually. He assured them that within four months, the corporation would be back in black. Two years on, not much has happened. The CM now wants the TSRTC to get back to him with a proposal for a fare hike, but any increase at present will further reduce patronage. Instead of raising bus fares now, the RTC could have been asked to improve internal efficiency, increase bus occupancy, use its immovable assets for commercial use and importantly, discourage the illicit operation of private buses on RTC profit-making routes.
Similarly, when it comes to power utilities, the government never permitted the raising of power tariffs except in 2016, when an average hike of 7.5% was allowed. Though the Central Electricity Act gives the freedom to power utilities to raise tariff by 3% every year, they were never allowed to exercise the power since it is a politically sensitive issue.
Now the two Titanics are sending out SOS signals. The budget support of `10,000 crore to the power utilities is a pittance compared to the gargantuan proportions the losses have acquired. If the utilities had been allowed to raise the tariff every year, there would not have been any need for a steep hike now. Chanakya had said in Arthashastra: “A tax collector should collect taxes like a bee collects honey from a flower without disturbing its petals.” It is relevant even today, though the saying is more than 2,000 years old.
