Telangana govt likely to privatise four thousand RTC routes

The Telangana state government is all set to make firm moves soon to checkmate the indefinite strike by the JAC of various TSRTC unions, which entered the 24th day on Monday. The Government, according to sources, has decided to issue permits to private operators to ply their vehicles on 3,000 to 4,000 routes in the State.

A decision to this effect will be taken by the State Cabinet which is likely to meet in a couple of days. The government has decided to extend permits to private players since it believes that a solution to the RTC strike could take time since the matter has ended up in a court of law.

Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao is stated to be of the opinion that the employees’ and workers’ unions were resorting to arm-twisting methods and indulging in blackmail politics by calling for strikes during festival or examination seasons. This was leading to great inconvenience to the people that has been going on for the past 40 years.

The State government’s line of thinking appears to be that the only a permanent solution to the persisting problem was issuing permits to private players, the sources said. The Cabinet is expected to take a decision to this effect and make an announcement sooner than later.

The decision is based on the belief that the RTC unions, by taking the issue to court, where finding a solution could be a long-drawn process, would put people to great inconvenience during this period. The government is of the firm opinion that people should not suffer, and hence had to take recourse to this decision. There is a possibility that the matter may even reach the Supreme Court. This coupled with the fact that the RTC continues to suffer losses and is unable to generate any income during the strike period has made the situation untenable.

The sources pointed out that the RTC was reeling under a severe financial crisis, as a result of which, arrears to petrol pumps had also



increased. Any moment, the petrol pumps may refuse to supply diesel leading to a situation where even the buses that are being operated now will have to be stopped. 

On the other hand, the RTC is unable to service loans and there is every possibility that the corporation may be declared a non performing asset by the lenders. In such a scenario, the government has reportedly decided not to remain a mere spectator and instead, play a more proactive role in initiating measures to avoid problems for the people.

The sources said private operators were already waiting in the wings to step in and apply for permits. When the government sought applications for route permits on 1,000 routes, there were 21,453 applications, which indicates that it was not just the private vehicle owners in the State who are interested but also operators from other States who are evincing keen interest, the sources said.

The Motor Vehicles Amendment Act, 2019, which empowers State government to grant permits to private operators, came into effect from September 1, 2019. The sources pointed out that nobody can question the new Central act.

The State government believes that private operators would operate more trips to generate income for themselves, and have vehicles available for people without the issue of shifts coming into play. The government also feels that private operators with just 4,000 buses will do the same job that 6,000 or 7,000 RTC buses would because of their profit orientation. The government also believes that higher number of private vehicles would be made available which would result in healthy competition in public road transport.

The politics of blackmail adopted by the RTC unions had forced the government to go in for the alternative of issuing permits to private operators that would offer a permanent solution to persistent strikes, the sources said.