The Telangana State Road Transport (TSRTC) corporation was beset with massive losses in FY 2021-22, on the one hand, and on the other, it suffered a negative net worth running into thousands of crores, a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report states.
The report, which was recently released, underscores that the TSRTC was one of the six public sector undertakings, including Hyderabad Metro Rail Limited — the other entity that deals with public transit, which recorded losses and negative net worth. “A negative net worth indicates that the entire investment of the owners has been wiped out by accumulated losses,” the CAG report explains.
The TSRTC, recorded a loss of ₹1,986 crore and its negative net worth was ₹9,240 crore. Meanwhile, the government made major investments in FY 2021-22 in six corporations, including the TSRTC. The investment made stood at ₹269 crore. The Telangana government provided ₹102 crore in the form of loans so that TSRTC could make interest payments or repay loans.
Touching upon other aspect of road transport, the CAG noted that receipts from taxes on vehicles was growing since FY 2017-18. But, a decrease was from FY 2020-21. Relatively fewer vehicle registrations led to a decrease in life tax collections, and tax exemptions for motor transport vehicles for quarters ending June and Septembers 2020 were two of the three reasons listed.
To substantiate this, the CAG report noted that in 2020-21 as many as 8.28 lakh vehicles were registered. The number in the subsequent year dropped to 7.86 lakh.
