HYDERABAD: With no regulation on ticket prices for private bus operators, going home this festive season has become an expensive affair for passengers travelling between Hyderabad to several places in AP.
Passengers trying to book tickets say that there is a 50% hike in fares after many private bus operators stalled online bookings to create a temporary shortage and drive up prices. “I tried to book tickets to Vijayawada on Friday morning on the internet. When the seats on the bus I usually book were already filled, I went to the ticket booking office in Ameerpet where I was charged Rs 800 extra for the ticket,” said Shashank Kumar, a resident of Sanathnagar.
Around 4,000 contract carriage (a motor vehicle which carries a passenger or passengers for hire or reward) buses and nearly 1,000 line buses (a bus that takes a particular route) operate from Hyderabad.
Thousands of people working in Hyderabad are preparing to return to their hometowns in AP to celebrate the upcoming Dasara festival with their families. Stating that the private bus operators are cashing in on the sentiment of passengers, many said that the government should create some guidelines for the private operators. “I have been paying two or three times the price of actual ticket fare every year during the festive season. The government should put a stop to this practice,” said B Rajkumar, a Kukatpally resident.
M Sunil Kumar Reddy, owner of Orange Travels said, “The number of passengers taking the buses this season has increased compared to last year when the situation was grim due to Covid-19. Our price is limited to maximum 1.5 times of the regular price.”
