Impact of Oil Price Hike during Covid-19 Pandemic on Private Bus Owners: A Study Based on Kannur District of Kerala

Abstract

The private bus industry in India, particularly in Kerala, has long been the backbone of regional transportation, connecting cities, towns, and remote villages. However, the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020 along with hike in oil prices triggered a crisis that the sector was ill-prepared to handle. As lockdowns were enforced and travel restrictions tightened, thousands of private buses were forced to halt operations indefinitely. With zero income and mounting financial obligations, operators were pushed into a deep economic abyss. The present study makes an attempt to analyses how the oil price hike during the pandemic affected bus owners and a comparison of income and expenditure of private bus owners before and after the pandemic lockdown period. It is revealed that the coexistence of Covid-19 pandemic and fuel price hike very severely affected the financial position of the bus owners and many of them were pushed in debt trap due to higher expenditure compared to revenue. Fuel charges constituted the lion share of expenditure and revenue was not sufficient to meet the total expenditure leads either cut down the number of buses or services.