KT Rama Rao warns impending bus fare hike in Telangana

The Karnataka government proposed to hike the bus fare after the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) suffered a loss of Rs 295 crore due to the free bus ride scheme for women.

Hyderabad: BRS working president KT Rama Rao has indicated a possibility of RTC bus fares being hiked in Telangana where the State government is offering free bus rides for women as part of the Mahalakshmi scheme. He felt that a bus fare hike was impending.

The Karnataka government had proposed to hike the bus fare after the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) suffered a loss of Rs 295 crore due to the free bus ride scheme for women. Citing news reports on X, Rama Rao urged people to understand that there was always a heavy price for anything that they were told was “free”.

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“Remember when someone says “it’s free”, they are taking you for a ride. The day is not far when Telangana RTC will also follow in the footsteps of Karnataka and increase bus fares,” he said.

Recent data from the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TGSRTC) revealed that the daily passenger count has surged to 20 lakh in Hyderabad alone due to the Mahalakshmi scheme.

Only 30 per cent of passengers were paying fares, while 70 per cent of the city’s bus passengers were women traveling for free under the scheme.

More than 55 crore zero tickets have been issued to women passengers across the State since the scheme’s launch in December last year.