While the lockdown forced most government and private services to shut operations, organisations suffered immense losses. 

The Pune Mahanagar Parivahan Mahamandal Limited (PMPML) also suffered immense losses during the lockdown. The loses suffered were to an extent that it could not pay its employees their salaries. 

By May, in an attempt to explore a source of income, the bus service began offering its services to private companies to ferry its employees during the lockdown. 

The transport body was associated with ferrying employees of IT companies and Maharashtra Industrial Development Corporation, which did not meet with a good response. Hence soon the organisation decided to slash prices from Rs 83.50/km to Rs 50-60/km. 

The heavy reduction of prices of almost Rs 25-30/km comes as a decision to increase the current possible revenue. 

Nayana Gunde, PMPML’s chairman and managing director, was quoted by a media organisations saying, “Earlier, the companies we approached told us that the rates seemed to be high. They would consider using PMPML buses if the prices were revised, they said.”

Adding to it, PMPML’s transport manager Anant Waghmare was quoted by the same organisation saying, “There are thousands of employees in the organisation who need to be paid. These are unprecedented times and hence, we have to take such measures to build up some income at least. Along with the buses, our drivers and conductors will also be deployed.”