The festive crowd at Pandit Nehru bus station in Vijayawada has disappeared after Sankranti. , Photo Credit: KVS Giri
The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) has decided not to charge extra ticket fare in 6,400 special buses proposed to be operated during the Sankranti festival to ease extra rush.
In a statement on Wednesday, Vice Chairman and Managing Director of the corporation Ch. Dwaraka Tirumala Rao said that all decisions in the corporation were taken in the interest of the common man and hence, it was decided not to increase ticket fares and instead take regular fares.
He said that this decision was taken keeping in view the fact that private bus operators were taking undue advantage of 50 per cent extra bus fare charged by APSRTC during festival time. They increased the bus ticket fare manifold and the customers had to bear the financial burden.
“After reducing the extra fare last year, we realized that people had largely patronized the RTC and hence decided to continue it this year as well,” said Mr. Rao.
He said that the concept of “Return Journey Concession” offered to passengers has caught on and has helped the organization improve the Occupancy Ratio (OR) of the bus fleet.
Elaborating further, Shri Tirumala Rao said that the proposed special buses would be operated before and after the festival to meet the transport needs of the public. These vehicles will be run from January 6 to 12 before the festival and from January 16 to January 19 after the festival.
Speaking about the overwhelming response, he said that seats were already booked in all normal bus services from January 10 to 13.
Shri Tirumala Rao on Wednesday presented the B.Com on behalf of Deevena Foundation, a service organization started by a group of police constables in the state. Handed over a cash amount of ₹15,000 to Jyoti (name changed) towards the fees for the first year of pharmacy course. ,
Constables collect money and help children from marginalized communities, orphans and physically challenged children. The child’s father has died and the mother works as a daily wage laborer.