KOCHI: The High Court has ruled that KSRTC can operate tour package services. This decision dismisses a plea from private contract carriage operators who were challenging KSRTC's tour packages. The court also confirmed that KSRTC has the legal right to provide these tour packages.

KSRTC has been granted permission to offer tours to specific destinations. Private operators are not allowed to serve these locations preserving the rights of private contract operators. KSRTC's tour packages are a significant source of non-ticket revenue and they have gained popularity due to their affordability.

However around 27,000 KSRTC employees continue to work without the assurance of receiving their overdue salaries from the previous month. This delay in salary payment is due to the finance department's failure to provide the promised monthly financial assistance of 50 crores. This has caused financial difficulties including unpaid children's fees, rent and loan repayments disrupting the lives of these employees. Labor unions are prepared to strike if there are further delays.

To address this, the first installment of the salary was paid using 30 crores received at the beginning of the month and an additional 10 crores from KSRTC's own funds. Moreover, pension payments for September and October are also pending affecting the lives of 40,000 people dependent on these funds. An 80 crores demand has been filed to settle the one-month arrears. The finance department proposed forming a consortium to transfer the funds but this was blocked due to disputes over interest. In the past, pension funds were directly transferred to KSRTC for two months.

Although the High Court has ordered that pensions should be distributed within five days of each month, this has not been implemented due to the financial crisis.