A Division Bench of A.P. High Court comprising Chief Justice Kalyan Jyothi Sengupta and Justice P.V.Sanjay Kumar on Monday made it clear that the APSRTC cannot charge the travellers at exorbitant rates in the name of special occasions such as festivals, etc.
The bench was disposing of a writ petition filed by Rama Raju of Viswa Hindu Parishad. The petitioner complained that RTC is charging nearly double the rate from the commuters during festival season. The petitioner brought to the notice and the court that there is no power to the RTC to charge higher rates.
The Bench called for response from the corporation and declared that the regulations would empower the corporation to charge to the maximum of one-and-a-half times the fare only during Jataras. The word used by the government is ‘special occasions’ which has not been defined clearly and the corporation cannot say that it can decide about special occasion and then charge higher rates. The excessive delegation is unconstitutional and therefore, the government is directed to clearly define what is the special occasion, during which the corporation can charge higher amounts.
Till this clarification is given by the government, the RTC cannot charge the commuters in the name of special occasion except as already provided.
