VIJAYAWADA: If everything goes according to plans, four vehicle service centres will come into operation on the lands owned by the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) in the State in the next two months. As part of its efforts to improve revenue, the APSRTC has focused on utilising its valuable lands across the State for commercial purposes. The APRTC has decided to set up private vehicle servicing centres in its garages and depots.
When contacted, APSRTC executive director (Engineering) P Krishna Mohan said that the Corporation has garages and depots at prime locations. Each garage is spread over 10 acres and a depot is spread over six acres. At present, the RTC is utilising the space for servicing its buses and in the proposed initiative, private vehicles will be also serviced at the facility. Currently, the RTC is operating tyre servicing centres in Vizianagaram, Eluru and Kurnool. The corporation has appointed a committee of officers to carry out the plan.
“We are exploring all possibilities to make vehicle servicing services affordable for all sections. Services like general servicing, all kinds of repairs, body painting, water servicing etc will be made available for the public at these centres,” Krishna Mohan said.
RTC technical staff will provide skilled services and outsourcing staff will be appointed for unskilled services. In addition to the existing infrastructure in the garages, required machinery will be purchased.
Steps will be taken by the ground level staff at the depots to arrange separate entry and exit lanes for RTC and private vehicles. Separate store rooms and records will be maintained for spare parts of RTC and private vehicles to prevent any scope for manipulation. Initially, servicing facilities for heavy vehicles will be made available at the bus depots and garages. Later, servicing of cars, SUVs, and other vehicles will be provided in these service centres.