People want better service
No reduction in APSRTC fares
Hyderabad: Despite a drop in diesel prices, APSRTC has no plans to reduce the passenger fare. A fare reduction has already been implemented by Odisha due to the drop in diesel price.
The APSRTC (operating in AP and Telangana) may or may not be thinking of a rollback, but ask the passengers and they will tell you they want better connectivity, timings and security on the buses. Price hike, they feel is not such a major issue.
Passengers do not mind spending an extra rupee or two on bus travel because they know there is hardly any option as autos in the city are very expensive in comparison.
“More than decreasing the fares, there is a need to increase the passenger amenities like bus shelters and better safety in buses. Often we have seen even the lady conductor facing harassment from unruly passengers, let alone women passengers,” said Lathlike P., a student.
The APRTC management, meanwhile, is not considering any reduction, given the huge burden of loans as well as the temporary nature of reductions in diesel price.
“While diesel price has been increased by Rs 8 to Rs 10 several times, a reduction of Rs 3- 4, cannot be considered a real reduction. It is not possible to reduce fares and there is no such plan for now,” said JMD G.V. Raman Rao.
Based on the suggestions of the Telangana government’s Poonam Malkondain committee, the RTC has recently installed a glass divider in city buses to protect women but the move is too insignificant to address the actual security needs of women, including women conductors. “Passengers are not demanding any reduction in fares but they certainly want improved services.
The number of buses touching outskirts as well as frequency in many areas needs to be improved. Also safety concerns of women and the issue of pick-pocketing is a huge one in moving buses,” said Noor Ahmed, general secretary of Suburban Train and Bus Travellers Association.
Fuel alone doesn’t affect fare:
After diesel being supplied to the buses directly at the depots by oil companies after a gap of few months, the consumption has shown a drop, as per oil companies.
This is a temporary saving for the cash-starved corporation which is working to repay loans. The RTC currently has suffered loss of Rs 2,634 cores which will be split between the two new state transport corporations to be formed.
Also, insiders say that fare reduction is definitely not a possibility. On the contrary since the corporation fares are operating on very low rates beginning at Rs 6 (minimum fare) and might go upto Rs 30 in the city limits (depending on distance), the fares will only see an upward revision in due course of time.
“Temporary reductions based on the fuel price alone cannot be made as the fares are also dependent on operational and maintenance costs,” said an insider.
Loss due to illegal operations: Unions:
APSRTC employees unions do not think that the AP State Transport Corporation is severely overstaffed as believed by many insiders. However, they think that the corporation needs to curb illegal operations to help pull of out the losses.
Also the government of Telangana has identified illegal operations by private bus operators as reason for mounting losses and has asked officials to route track them and stop operations by following up with RTA authorities.
“We have been demanding regularisation of contract employees as many employees who have been working on meagre salaries for years together, deserve benefits too. The corporation is definitely not overstaffed,” said a member of APSRTC Employees Union, Sridhar Reddy.
( Source : dc correspondent )
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