Hyderabad: Hefty bus fares burn passengers' pockets

Hyderabad: It seems going to native places for the Dasara festival will compel passengers to burn their pockets.

Taking advantages of this season, private bus fares have doubled and tripled, let it be inter-city or intra-city, virtually hit the sky. The fare of Rs 500-Rs 800 has reportedly touched Rs 2,000. Maybe in the coming days it could be further increased.

On the online booking sites the charges for a particular destination varies from one travel agency to another; let it be RTC or private. The Hyderabad- Visakhapatnam charge is Rs 1,600, double the usual fare, while for Hyderabad-Kurnool it is Rs 1,500.

Said KL Satyanarayana, "I was forced to cancel my tickets from Hyderabad to Bhimavaram, as the bus charges in this festive season have increased. Private agents are looting the public. As against the normal fare of Rs 750 they are charging Rs 1,250.

"We generally travel in non-AC sleeper bus to Kurnool at a fare of Rs 600 per seat every year. But, this year, private operators have doubled and tripled it. They are charging Rs 1,500. This is a huge burden on us," said Shirisha, an IT employee.

Said M Suresh, a travel agent, Travel World, "the response is very good. We were expecting that the response this year also would be low, but all buses heading to Andhra Pradesh and areas of Telangana are full. Due to hike in diesel price, the fare have been increased".

Meanwhile, the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) has provided reservation on 137 buses to various destinations in Andhra Pradesh and 109 buses in Telangana. Many seats vacant on all these buses. Intending passengers have been requested to reserve, as all seats are available at normal fare.