Use RTC or bust, says state

Hyderabad: The government has reiterated the blanket ban on private buses, even those belonging to other states, running as stage carriers, and said all such buses are liable to be seized.

The transport department has advised people not to book tickets on buses belonging to any private operator to travel within or outside the state.

Private operators used to run 1,600 buses. As against this, the APSRTC has 137 Volvo buses and 309 AC?buses for long distance travel. It’s a mystery how the government thinks this number will be enough.

Private buses don’t have the requisite permission to run individual services, called stage carriers, although they have been doing so for decades. Only the APSRTC has the permission to run buses as stage carriers. Private buses can only ply on contract carriage basis.

Transport authorities say private buses entering the state will be seized at the border. Many buses have been using alternative routes to avoid RTA checks.

B. Venkateswarulu, joint transport commissioner, RTA, said, “Even in other states, it is the same issue, with state transport corporations holding a monopoly. Operators belonging to other states don’t have stage carrier permits, so they can also be seized at any time.”

However, action against buses from other states has to be taken by the RTA of the respective state.

“Passengers are requested to travel by legal stage carriers only, to ensure that their journey is not ended and they are not put to inconvenience,” said transport commissioner G. Anantha Ramu in a press release.

Effectively, the transport department has asked passengers to use only APSRTC or be ready to be stranded.

Despite the sudden drop in the number of services, transport officials say the exit of private buses has not created a vacuum on routes to Bengaluru, Chennai and Mumbai and the state corporation is catering to passengers' needs well.

“The Sankranti season was an example of how well we managed the situation,” said G.V. Ramana Rao, executive director (operations), APSRTC.

State seeks data on kin of victims

Hyderabad: The government has asked transport authorities to collect preliminary information about the kin of the victims of the bus mishap at Palem of October last.

The victims have been protesting incessantly against the inaction on part of the government in providing them with aid of any sort.

Transport department sources said basic information like family details of the victims and their immediate needs will be sought and a report will be forwarded to the government. Such an exercise is generally carried out by revenue authorities.

Kin of the victims have been demanding an ex-gratia of Rs 15 lakh and a government job.

How the seizure works

Since the Mahbubnagar bus tragedy, the transport department has undertaken a mammoth drive to unearth irregularities and flouting of rules.

l RTA?has booked 2,385 cases and more than 2,100 buses have been seized.

l Officials say private buses hit the roads soon after they are released because they have paid their quarterly tax and want to make the most of it.

l An overwhelming majority of the buses are seized when they are run as stage carriers while having contract carriage rules

l Operators are allowed to present their case in court and fined between Rs 5,000 and Rs 10,000. The bus is then released.

l The quarterly tax paid by operators is about Rs 1.60 lakh for a contract carriage. The profit from each trip is about Rs 20,000 to Rs 25,000.

l About 10% are petty cases where fines are collected directly.

l Some operators allegedly pay off a few prosecutors so that the case made out is not strong enough. “They are just fined and let off after being in custody till the hearing,” a senior transport official said.

l About 46 permits have been suspended by the RTA?to date, while more are lined up.

Next: RTA?drive puts brakes on redbus.in

RTA?drive puts brakes on redbus.in

Hyderabad: Complaints have been lodged against bus ticketing portal redbus.in for violating the MV Act. Transport officials have approached the CCS?cyber crime wing to book cases against redbus.in and other ticketing agents. Cases against 101 online and offline agents have also been booked.

Senior police officials are enquiring into the violations committed by the portal. Revenues have already come down due to problems facing the Rs 2,000-crore private bus industry.

Officials contend that facilitation of booking of individual tickets on contract carriages is an offence. Ticketing portals charge a royalty for each seat booked from their site.

During the boom, portals like redbus.in sold many as 2,000 seats a day and more on weekends.

That has come down to about 400, and is expected to fall.

Though operations in other parts of the country are unaffected, the downtrend in Andhra PRadesh and Karnataka is expected to hit the portal’s revenues.

Redbus.in officials could not be reached for comment.