VIJAYAWADA: As Sankranti festive season concluded on Sunday, commuters who preferred to reach their workplaces in Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai from their home towns were fleeced by private travel operators. Cashing in on the long weekend and festival holidays, the private bus operators doubled the fare. Similar is the case with the passengers who travelled to their workplaces from their hometowns on Sunday.
A section of passengers near Benz Circle and Hanumanpeta in the city have appealed to the State government to enact a law to initiate action against the private travel operators for fleecing the passengers. “It has become a routine affair for us to spend more from our pockets during the festive season. This year too, the APSRTC has announced special buses during the Sankranti festive season. But they cannot meet the actual passenger rush during the festive season. Steps should be taken by the government to enact a law allowing the private bus operators to charge ticket fare on the lines of APSRTC,” said D Vishnu Vardhan, a private employee travelling to Bengaluru.
Meanwhile, private bus operators have claimed that they are facing severe operational losses due to Covid-19 pandemic and other reasons including steep rise in diesel price, toll charges, prices of spare parts, insurance premium and motor vehicle tax. “Festive season is the only time where we can recover our losses. Most of the buses run empty in the return journey,’’ said Ch Ravindranath, a private bus operator.
Deputy Transport Commissioner (DTC) M Purendra told TNIE that to encash the festive season, several private bus operators in the district have doubled the ticket fare.
Upon receiving complaints from passengers, the special enforcement teams constituted with motor vehicle inspectors (MVIs) registered 95 cases against private bus operators under the Motor Vehicles Act for fleecing the passengers by collecting exorbitant fares during Sankranti festive season. Of the total 95 cases, 74 were registered for carrying merchandise goods, exorbitant fares (12), without tax (1) and others (8), he said. “Simultaneous raids will be carried out across the district in the next couple of days and violators will be penalised under the MV Act Act,’’ he added.
Ticket fare hiked
The usual non-AC ticket fare to Hyderabad from Vijayawada which ranges between Rs 400 and Rs 600 was around Rs 800 to Rs 1,500 during this Sankranti festive season, say passengers. It has become a routinte affair, they lamented