Andhra Pradesh faces competition from TSRTC

Rajahmundry: APSRTC will see a dent in its revenue to the tune of 30 per cent to 40 per cent especially during the Sankranti festival season as TSRTC is operating special services to several towns and cities in the state for the first time.

As Sankranti is considered to be one of the very important festivals in the state, people who are away from their home towns and villages either for  studies or work return home to celebrate the festival along with their family and friends.

Cashing in on the demand, especially from Hyderabad, APSRTC has hiked the fare for special services to the extent of 50 per cent and is operating hundreds of buses from Hyderabad to Visakhapatnam, Vijayawada, Guntur, and Tirupati and to all other cities and towns in the state.

These special buses will be operated from January 11 to 13 to transport people from Hyderabad to cities and towns in the state and again back to Hyderabad from January 15 to 17. These special buses are being operated in addition to the existing scheduled services and will fetch good revenue to the state.

For instance, in East Godavari, special services operated by APSRTC from Hyderabad to several towns in East Godavari and vice versa during the last Sankranti festival fetched revenue worth Rs 1.92 crore and in case of West Godavari for similar services, APSRTC got Rs 20 lakh.

At that time, APSRTC had no competitor like TSRTC except private travels which jacked up prices of fares to the tune of 100 per cent to 200 per cent depending on the demand and supply. People who wanted to enjoy safe travel for a long distance journey preferred RTC services.

For the present Sankra-nti season, APSRTC is facing tough competition from TSRTC as they are also operating special services from Hyderabad to all important cities and towns in AP and vice versa with enhanced fare to the extent of 50 per cent. Online reservation of tickets is available on TSRTC’s website.

APSRTC East Godavari regional manager Ravi Kumar said, “As TSRTC is also operating special services to parts of AP from Hyderabad and vice versa during Sankranti festival similar on the lines of APSRTC, we will certainly be having its impact on our earnings. However, the extent of impact will be based on patronage being provided by the people on TSRTC.”