Hyderabad: Within a span of 10 days, Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) has hiked the ticket fare for the third time. In the latest move, the corporation on Monday increased the fare by Rs 4 and Rs 9 towards ‘amenities cess’.
The cess has been increased from Rs 1 to Rs 5 for express and deluxe bus services while for high-end services like Rajdhani, Garuda, Garuda Plus and Vennela, it has been hiked from Rs 1 to Rs 10. Amenities cess is levied to maintain chairs, benches, and separate toilets for ladies and gents.
Incidentally, although the TSRTC board sent its recommendations to Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao a few months back, he is yet to approve any of the recommendations.
Corporation authorities argue that the hike was inevitable given the increase in prices of spares, tubes, tyres and diesel. According to officials, the average daily revenue does not cross Rs 12 crore but it has to spend Rs 16 crore a day on diesel and other necessities.
Apart from ticket prices, RTC has also recently hiked bus pass prices fares. Ordinary pass price has been increased from Rs 970 to Rs 1,150; Metro express pass from Rs 1,070 to Rs 1,300 and metro deluxe from Rs 1,185 to Rs 1,450. Greater Hyderabad pass price has been increased to Rs 1,350 from Rs 1,100 while Pushpak AC pass price has been hiked from Rs 2,500 to Rs 3,000. The hike will take effect from April 1, RTC officials said
The move would straightaway burden about 20 lakh of 32 lakh passengers, who travel by RTC buses on a regular basis in Telangana.
