In three years to FY22, losses of State Road transport units increased by 68%: MoRTH report

The Ministry of Road Transport & Highways’ (MoRTH) annual report 2024-25 shows that in FY22 the period when bus services regained momentum after the Covid-19 pandemic, the net loss for 58 SRTUs surged to

Rs 30,191.93 crore, based on latest provisional data, marking a 68 per cent increase in losses in three years.

In FY21, 58 SRTUs reported a total loss of over Rs 29,000 crore. This was primarily because of the pandemic when bus operations were halted for several months. However, even before the pandemic, SRTUs were facing worsening financial conditions. The data shows that in 2019-20 also, 58 SRTUs faced a loss of

Rs 20,377.53 crore. Similarly in FY19, 56 SRTUs reported a consolidated net loss of Rs 17,923.92 crore. The operation of a lower number of buses, the SRTUs not being able to increase the fare on par with the hike in fuel prices and reduction in occupancy ratio of the buses are other reasons behind their losses.

“The net profits/losses vary for each SRTU depending upon underlying operational efficiency parameters such as fleet vintage, fleet utilisation, occupancy ratio, staff productivity, etc,” according to the report.

The Uttar Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation, Kerala SRTC, Navi Mumbai Municipal Transport, Delhi Transport Corporation, among others, are government transport services which operate buses in urban, rural, and hilly areas.

Among many factors contributing to their losses, the low fleet utilisation rates plague many SRTUs. In FY22, the average fleet utilisation was 72.29 per cent, meaning several buses were not in service. According to the report, 1,06,293 buses were operational out of the 1,47,032 buses under the 58 SRTUs which provide data to the Ministry.

Similarly, the fleet utilisation rate in FY21, FY20 and FY19 was 62.54 per cent, 87.56 per cent and 88.6 per cent, respectively.

The occupancy ratio, which shows the passenger seat utilisation of a bus, is also another major factor behind the low revenue of the SRTUs. The report shows that while the occupancy ratio in FY20 was 74.03 per cent, it was significantly reduced to 68.49 per cent in FY22, indicating that lower numbers of people are using government buses.

The SRTUs are also facing increasing operational expenses such as hikes in fuel, maintenance, and staff salaries. The combined staff strength of the 58 reporting SRTUs was 6,45,954 and the staff-to-bus ratio was 4.39 in FY22. Along with this, the increased competition from private bus operators and other modes of transportation impacted SRTUs’ revenues. The report also shows that while State Transport Units (STUs) are entrusted with the responsibility to make 25 per cent of government-owned public transport vehicles fully accessible (with wheelchair accessibility) to passengers with disabilities, the implementation is far from the target.

The data from 61 STUs shows that out of a total 97,165 inter-city buses and 48,325 buses for urban operations, only 356 and 10,517 buses, respectively, have been made “fully accessible”. The number of accessible buses (without wheelchair accessibility) for inter-city and urban operations are 24,860 and 15,308, respectively.

The latest comprehensive report, which reviews the physical and financial performance of SRTUs based on the information supplied by them, has been delayed for many years.

The latest report is available for the financial year FY19 only. The MoRTH annual report said that the publication of the report for the years 2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22 is under approval stage.