Hyderabad
The cabinet meeting of the state government scheduled quite soon will see some new decisions being made for the state. The biggest of them will be the increase of rates in the TSRTC and enhancing power charges which will lead to a higher electricity bill.
While it has only been two days since TSRTC restored 100% of services in the GHMC, the proposal of hiking bus fares is already out. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao will preside over this meeting and join cabinet members, top officials from the Telangana State and Road Transport Corporation(TSRTC)and Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited(TSSPDCL), and Northern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited(NPDCTL) to discuss the revised rates and other details.
There has been no hike in electricity from the government. Every November, the power distribution companies submit their aggregate revenue requirement to the Telangana State Electricity Regulatory Commission (TSERC).
The hike to meet their requirement will begin the following year. At the same time, the government has not proposed any hike for seven years now, which is causing a revenue gap and increasing power requirements in the TSSPDCL and NPDCTL. Coming to the RTC, the pandemic has shown them the worst days as the corporation had to deal with a loss of Rs.3000 crore since March 2020.
The current numbers show all 97 depots in Hyderabad under considerable losses, totaling 90 crores per month alone. RTC's fare hike, which was supposed to occur in March 2020, has been long overdue because of covid19. While these hikes are certain, the meeting will reveal few things that will change this year.