Facing loses; PRTC hikes bus fare by 6 paise per kilometre

Karam Prakash

Tribune News Service

Patiala, June 30

In the wake of huge losses due to the COVID-induced lockdown, the Pepsu Road Transport Corporation (PRTC) has hiked its bus fare by 6 paise per kilometre. The hike will help enhance the daily earning of the PRTC by 15 per cent.

After the revised fare, the per km fare of an ordinary bus, HVAC (heating, ventilation and air conditioning) bus, integral coach and super integral coach will be 122 paise, 146.20 paise, 219.60 paise and 244 paise, respectively. The new fares will come into effect from July 1.

The PRTC is said to have been facing a double whammy of the low occupancy and limited bus service due to fear of COVID-19 and continuous fuel hike over the past few weeks by the Central Government.

Jaskiran Singh, managing director, PRTC, said of the fleet of 1,125 buses, they were just running 325.

He said the PRTC daily income had already dropped to Rs 15 lakh from over 1 crore before lockdown, adding: “The hike will only ease the losses to a certain extent. If there are no travellers, losses will continue.”