Transport officials book cases against private bus operators for ‘fleecing passengers’

With Dasara drawing to a close, people waiting to board a bus at the Pandit Nehru Bus Station in Vijayawada on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: G.N. RAO

Officials of the Road Transport Authority (RTA) in Andhra Pradesh have cracked the whip on erring private bus operators who fleeced the passengers taking undue advantage of the Dasara festival rush.

In NTR district alone, the department had booked cases against 151 private bus operators and seized 16 buses as part of a special drive conducted from October 3 to 12.

Deputy Transport Commission, NTR district, A. Mohan, said a special drive was in force during the festival period in view of the annual practice of jacking up the ticket prices by private bus operators, cashing in on the high demand.

Mr. Mohan said, following reports that some of the private travels’ managements were fleecing the passengers by overcharging them, the department constituted six teams of Motor Vehicle Inspectors, who fanned out in different directions in the district and conducted surprise checks.

He said some of the vehicles did not have proper documents, while some operators were found to be operating their vehicles without paying taxes, and some others were fleecing the passengers by selling the tickets for unreasonably high prices.

He said a fine of ₹28,24,654 was collected from the bus operators for violating the norms.

Stating that it was not right on the part of the private bus operators to take undue advantage of the people’s need to travel from one place to the other, Mr. Mohan warned them against charging high ticket fares, and said the surprise checks would continue even after the festival to bring order among the private operators.