Hyderabad: With cheaper cabs being available in the city, APSRTC’s airport liner, continues to be a losing proposition. But there is no plan to withdraw ‘Pushpaks’ despite its dismal 10 to 20 per cent occupancy for over a year.
The business of cabs has been booming especially to and from airport. The entry of low priced ‘mini’ cabs have further dented demand for ‘Pushpaks’. Yet the AC bus continues to ply adding to losses and traffic. Tickets priced at Rs 275 to Rs 350 is too high in comparison to cabs. While it works better for a single passenger, in case of a group of passengers or a family, cabs are a cheaper option at Rs 600-Rs 1,000 for four to five people. In case of a mini cab it can be as little as Rs 300-Rs 600. Apart from this there is the additional advantage being picked-up or dropped at the doorstep.
The RTC authorities have been incurring 80 per cent losses on operational costs, but being a public service utility it has to operate even if it has only a single passenger, say officials.
Pushpak has an assured frequency of one every 30 to 45 minutes from designated bus stops and cannot cut down operations even on lean days.
“In fact, Pushpak took over the airport sector from Aeroexpress in the hope of capturing a major segment of high-end passengers but the plan failed to work as envisaged. The airport liner has been incurring losses since its introduction but there is no move to withdraw the service as of now,” pointed out an official.
