Kollam: The Kerala State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is continuing to collect cess from passengers on higher-category services, even after the introduction of free travel for women on ordinary buses. Passengers travelling on Fast Passenger and Superfast services, with fares starting from ₹15, are being charged an additional cess of up to ₹11. The practice has reportedly been in place for 12 years.

Cess is no longer being collected on tickets up to ₹49 on ordinary buses, following a waiver introduced in December 2020.

In 2014, KSRTC passed a proposal in the Legislative Assembly to levy a cess on passenger tickets to raise funds for a community insurance scheme for accident victims, passenger amenities, and employee social security programmes. The initiative was expected to generate around ₹164 crore for the corporation’s pension fund and provide insurance coverage of ₹5 lakh to passengers.

The cess was also intended to help offset KSRTC’s losses arising from rising diesel prices. However, its introduction led to fare disparities between KSRTC services and private buses operating on the same routes. When diesel prices later fell by ₹5, private operators reduced fares, while higher KSRTC fares reportedly led to a decline in passenger numbers.

Subsequently, cess on tickets up to ₹49 on ordinary, city fast, Jan Shatabdi-type services, and non-AC buses was waived from December 23, 2020. Although the waiver was initially announced for six months, it continued without a formal order until a recent notification issued by the Transport Department Secretary on June 11.

At present, on Fast Passenger and similar services, ₹1 is charged as cess for tickets priced between ₹15 and ₹24, and ₹2 for fares between ₹25 and ₹49. For tickets above ₹100, the cess goes up to ₹11. The additional charge has a greater impact on regular commuters and long-distance travellers.

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Passengers have demanded that the cess be discontinued entirely, especially in light of the implementation of free travel for women on ordinary buses.