Telangana: ‘Free travel’ scheme hits inter-State operators

Officials say there is decrease in seat Occupancy Ratio in these buses

Hyderabad: The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) buses are running at full capacity, owing to the ‘Maha Lakshmi’ free travel for women facility introduced by the government.

However, this facility has started to impact the buses operated by neighbouring Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka States. Officials say that there is a decrease in the seat Occupancy Ratio in the buses of these States being run to and from Telangana.
At the same time, the number of passengers in TSRTC Super Luxury buses is also noticeably seeing a decrease in the state. Besides, the footfall in the express services is surging.

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The RTC buses of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh operate to and from Hyderabad to cities like Vijayawada, Guntur, Rajahmundry, Visakhapatnam, Ongole, Tirupati and Kurnool. Also, buses from Andhra Pradesh operate to and from Khammam, Mahabubnagar, Nizamabad. Buses from both these States ply to places like Bengaluru, Bidar and Raichur in Karnataka.

Women having valid identity proof with State address are allowed free travel in TSRTC Palle Velugu and Express buses till the State borders. As a result, women travellers to neighbouring States are trying to reduce their travel expenses as much as possible.

“It has come to our notice that on Hyderabad to Vijayawada route, women are traveling for free utilising the free travel facility and buying ticket only after Kodad. The situation exists in daily services. With free travel, the cost is reduced by Rs 300 per person,” said a senior RTC official.

The effect of Maha Lakshmi scheme on the buses plying from AP to the border districts of Telangana is also high. The passenger traffic in buses from Rajahmundry, Vijayawada to Madhira, Sathupalli and Khammam in Telangana has also decreased.

While Bidar in Karnataka is about 143 km from Hyderabad with over 110 kms of it being
in Telangana,he passenger rush in TSRTC buses in recent times has increased significantly on the route with women passengers availing free service till the border and then buying ticket only for the part in Karnataka.