Praja Rajyam Party president K. Chiranjeevi has requested Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy to check the AP State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) and the private bus operators from fleecing passengers by jacking up bus fares during the Sankranti festival.
In a letter to the Chief Minister on Thursday, Mr. Chiranjeevi said the APSRTC had joined private operators in fleecing the passengers forgetting that it was an organisation set for the facility of people. Though the media had been highlighting the fleecing by RTC and private operators the Government was not acting on the problem.
In the name of special buses, the RTC was running City buses to different parts in the State and charging very high fares compared to the regular fares. This was not at all the way to run the RTC, he said.
Mr. Chiranjeevi said some private bus operators were exploiting the situation by charging Rs. 100 to 500 more per passenger on long distance services. But the Government was a mute spectator.
The hike in bus fares was hitting the poor and middle class very hard in addition to the ever-increasing prices of essential commodities. He urged the Chief Minister to intervene, arrange more number of buses to enable people to visit their native places for Sankranti and return at the regular fare.
