Jolt for KSRTC: Kerala High Court refuses stay on OMC price hike for bulk purchase

In a jolt to the KSRTC, the Kerala High Court on Tuesday refused to stay state-owned oil marketing companies' (OMCs) decision to increase fuel prices for bulk diesel purchase.

As soon as the hike was announced, the Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) had announced they would approach the Kerala High Court.

With the current price hike which came into effect from last week, bulk consumers will have to pay Rs 121.36 per litre.

The public utility already reeling under huge losses will have to shell out around Rs 80 lakh per day and hence they have been refilling fuel from different fuel pumps.

The court said this is a policy decision and it cannot intervene in this issue.

If the government had not been pumping funds into the KSRTC, it would have closed down. Over 35,000 employees are working in the corporation, which operates 5,000 buses, has around 5,100 schedules and runs on an average of 1.6 milliom km every day.

Successive governments in the state have only been offering lofty promises, but nothing much has happened leaving the public utility to have a hand-to-mouth existence.

The matter has been posted till April 4.