More costs or less revenue?

According to our Minister of Transport Lui Tuck Yew, transport operators will need to incur S$28 million of costs if they were to give polytechnic students full student travel concessions. The exact wording is:

"On the estimated additional cost to the operators if polytechnic students are given full student travel concessions, it will cost the operators about $28 million per year based on today's fares."

(Sourced from the Ministry of Transport webpage)

Let's not debate over whether polytechnic students should be given full student travel concessions or not. What I wish to highlight is his choice of words, mainly, "it will cost the operators". 

Earning less revenue is different from incurring more costs. Do the operators need to fork out more money to give polytechnic students concessions? No. They simply earn less. So LTY's statement is wrong. The additional cost should only refer to the costs in administering the concession for polytechnic students, for example, manpower costs, IT costs for modifying the system to allow the concession, and so on. 

Thus, a more correct way of putting it would be: 

"If polytechnic students are given full student travel concessions, operators will earn about S$28 million less per year based on today's fares." 

Obviously he could not put it this way, because it would seem like he is more concerned with the operators' profits. If one were to assume that the student travel concession is a right for polytechnic students, one could even rephrase the sentence to:

"If polytechnic students are not given full student travel concessions, operators will earn about S$28 million more per year based on today's fares."