HYDERABAD: Travelling from Hyderabad to their hometowns on Monday morning, primarily to cast their votes in simultaneous Assembly and Parliamentary polls, several passengers belonging to Andhra Pradesh complained of facing long delays on the TSRTC buses they had booked.
The commuters also claimed that neither the RTC customer care services nor the bus staff were responding to their calls. Most of them were travelling to Vijayawada, around a five-hour journey from the city.
Additionally, third-party apps through which the majority of them booked their journeys were also not answering their inquiries.
Sajja Jitendra, an employee of a private company, told TNIE that he had been waiting for nearly two hours at the Ameerpet bus stop. “I have been waiting since 6 am here for the RTC (Garuda/Benz AC Multi-Axle No. 30662) bus to Vijayawada. I had booked it yesterday (Sunday) afternoon. The bus was supposed to arrive at the scheduled time of 7 am. I hope I will make it in time to vote,” lamented Jitendra. He said did not book a private bus due to the exorbitant prices owing to a surge in passenger traffic from the city over the past few days. The hikes by private operators rose from 75% to 100%.
Meanwhile, several super-luxury RTC buses were plying on the same routes with over 50% available capacity.
B Jyotsana and her spouse, who preferred to stay anonymous, informed that they had been waiting at one of the pickup points in SR Nagar since 6:50 am. Incidentally, they were supposed to travel on the same bus bound for Vijayawada as Jitendra.
Pointing towards one of the almost visibly empty buses passing by around 9:45 am, B Jyotsana’s husband bemoaned, “I checked with one of the drivers. Seats and tickets are available on these buses. But there seems to be a lack of coordination. We are locked, as we have already paid.”
It is pertinent to note that the cancellation and refund options were also shut down for almost all the customers.
When asked why they were travelling at the last minute, a visibly uneasy Jyotsana asserted, “We tried to book a ticket on Sunday, but nothing was available due to the rush. When we booked, the ticket was not important, but the punctuality of the bus was.” The couple asserted that they have repeatedly called the bus staff using the contact information provided by the RTC and the third-party app but to no avail.
At 10:45 am, it had been two and a half years since Manoj Kumar had been waiting at Ameerpet for the bus (a Garuda Volvo / Benz AC Multi-axle) he booked at 4 am on Monday. Pointing at the screen, the B.Tech final-year student told TNIE, “No update about the driver’s phone number or anything else was provided. I just received a confirmation from the app.”
Just then, he got a call from the bus staff and got into an argument with him. “He told me that he mistakenly skipped me and is now asking me to come to the MGBS terminal,” said a dejected Kumar, who left for his new destination.
Konatham Veeranjayay and K Naresh, both waiting for their Vijayawada-bound buses, were left with their respective family members. While Veeranjayay was supposed to travel as Jitendra and Jyotsana, Naresh received a message from the bus staff that the bus, which was scheduled to arrive at 10 am, would be running late.
According to a staff member of the bus, which finally arrived at 10:10 am, “Due to the election, there is a shortage of drivers.”