Kochi: The Kerala High Court has issued an order mandating the payment of salaries to the employees of the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) before the 10th of every month.
The court asked the government to extend financial aid to the transport agency till it improved its financial condition.
The order was passed by Justice Devan Ramachandran on a batch of petitions questioning the delay in paying the salary and pension. The court said that the government could not disown a public service establishment such as the KSRTC since over 27 lakh passengers depended on it on a daily basis for their transport needs.
The counsel for the KSRTC informed the court that the salary for July had been paid. Besides this, Rs 2,750 each had been disbursed to the employees as Onam allowance. An amount of Rs 7.30 crore has been expended for this purpose. In addition, Rs 7,500 would be given as Onam advance on demand from employees. The money given as advance would be recovered in five installments. The counsel stated that as Rs 19 crore would be required to pay advance to all the employees, it had been decided to obtain a loan. The court took this statement on record.
Meanwhile, the court rejected the demand by some of the petitioners that the KSRTC should be treated on par with government departments. The court pointed out that the KSRTC was a public-sector enterprise.
Widening revenue-expenditure gap
Earlier in an affidavit filed in the High Court, KSRTC had informed that it would not be able to clear the dues of the employees from the revenue generated every month. The corporation's average monthly collection is Rs 200 crore, of which Rs 104 crore is used for fuel purposes, Rs 30.18 crore for loan repayment, Rs 10.5 crore to purchase tyres and spare parts, Rs 5 crore for FASTag, phone and electricity charges, Rs 9 crore for duty surrender and incentives and Rs 6.35 crore for contributory pension and LIC. With the remaining Rs 35 crore, only 45 to 50 per cent of employees' salaries can be paid.
The corporation also informed the court that besides these expenses, it had other liabilities like accident compensation.
