Bus fares zoom before Dasara in Hyderabad

Hyderabad: Private bus operators are charging more for their tickets than even airlines and have started fleecing passengers keeping Dasara in mind. The ticket charges of AC buses travelling from Hyderabad to Vijayawada of well known firms are priced between Rs 1,500 to an unbelievable Rs 2,500 for a journey of just around 280 km which takes around seven hours.

If one books flight tickets now to Vijayawada from Hyderabad it will cost less than Rs 2,400. The costliest ticket of the government’s RTC is just Rs 721 and that too for an AC sleeper bus. While ticket prices are around Rs 1,500-Rs 1,800 on other days they have been abnormally hiked for the week before Dussehra. Same is the case with the ticket charges of private buses travelling from Hyderabad to Vizag.

However, that is not the case for buses travelling from Vijayawada or Vizag to Hyderabad. While their charges are as high as Rs 1,800 they have not crossed the Rs 2,000 limit yet.

C Nikhila, an engineering student from Vijayawada studying in Hyderabad says, “I have booked a flight ticket for Dussehra as it is cheaper than what some of the private bus operators charge. The government has given a free hand to private operators and their service is not even punctual.”

Buses operated by the RTC are also getting filled up fast. On normal days the RTCs of AP and TS operate around 110 buses to Vijayawada with around 5,600 seats in various categories. Of this around 40% seats have been booked in the 5-6 days before Dussehra. In buses that operate during the evening hours from Hyderabad to Vijaya-wada and Vizag almost all seats have been booked.