The state-owned public transport service seeks the loan amount in one instalment with a repayment period of seven years against primary and secondary security to be provided by the state government. KSRTC Managing Director V Anbukumar said that the government has approved a Rs 2,000 loan to all the RTCs to clear all the dues which are around Rs 4800 crore till November 2024.
“This loan is being taken by KSRTC as per the orders of the government. All SRTCs will avail of Rs 2,000 crore loan to clear pending dues related to provident fund and diesel, ” Anbukumar told Moneycontrol. “All four corporations have total arrears of around Rs 4,800 crore, with the most immediate dues amounting to Rs 3,000 crore. The government has approved Rs 2,000 crore in loans. If we receive additional support, we will be free from all arrears. We are not pledging any assets, as this loan is guaranteed by the government,” he added.
All the four RTCs of Karnataka have consolidated liabilities worth Rs 6,330.25 crore
Earlier last month, the Karnataka government hiked the bus fare of the four state corporations namely, Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC), Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC), North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC), and Kalyana Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (KKRTC) by 15 per cent.
The consolidated liabilities of all the four SRTCs stood at Rs 6,330.25 crore as of November 2024. “Payments for provident fund transfers, pensions, and other due have been deferred due to a cash crunch. A total of Rs 5,527.4 crore is required to cover all outstanding dues, including Rs 2,901.5 crore in provident fund arrears and Rs 827.37 crore in fuel arrears. Of this, Rs 3,728 crore was sought from the government”, an official reportedly said.
In June 2023, the Congress government in Karnataka launched a freebie scheme called Shakti which allowed free bus travel to all women in all state-owned buses. The Shakti scheme was implemented by all four SRTCs. Despite the humungous financial burden on the SRTCs, the state government has continued with the freebie scheme.
However, the delayed reimbursement by the state government to the SRTCs for the implementation of the Shakti scheme forces the SRTCs to operate in deficit. The state government reportedly owed Rs 1,600 crore to SRTCs for the implementation of the Shakti scheme for the fiscal year 2023-24 and 2024-25 (till October) – with Rs 6,83.21 crore to KSRTC, Rs 280.82 crore to BMTC, Rs 394.7 crore to NWKRTC and Rs 335.67 crore to KKRTC.
