BENGALURU: The state government’s decision to extend free bus passes to students across the state is expected to impact the finances of the state’s four road transport corporations, which currently earn revenue from nearly seven lakh paying student pass holders every year. However, students are set to benefit from the announcement.
According to a senior KSRTC official, around nine lakh student passes are issued annually across the four transport corporations. Of these, about seven lakh students pay for the passes, while the remaining belong to Scheduled Caste and Scheduled Tribe categories who already receive free travel benefits.
“On average, a student pass costs around Rs 1,000 per year. With the new announcement, revenue from these seven lakh paying students will no longer reach the corporations,” the official told TNIE.
Data from the Bengaluru Metropolitan Transport Corporation (BMTC) shows that during 2025-26, a total of 1.78 lakh student passes were issued. Of these, 1.41 lakh were issued to students from the general category, around 31,000 to SC students and nearly 5,000 to ST students.
The decision to provide free bus passes to all school and college students is expected to significantly reduce the financial burden on families, particularly those from low and middle-income households.
By eliminating annual transportation costs, the scheme is likely to improve access to education, encourage regular attendance, reduce dropout rates and ensure that students from rural and urban areas can travel to educational institutions without worrying about commuting expenses. The government said the initiative has been introduced with the objective of supporting students’ education and making learning more accessible across the state.
The announcement comes at a time when the transport corporations are already grappling with financial stress arising from the Shakti scheme, which provides free bus travel to women. Since the launch of the Shakti scheme on June 11, 2023, the four corporations have spent approximately Rs 17,000 crore towards implementation. While the state government has reimbursed about Rs 13,000 crore, pending dues stand at around Rs 4,000 crore as of February 28.
This story has been written by Indra S.
