BRS leader criticises hike in Telangana RTC fares during festive season

Hyderabad, Oct 18 : BRS Deputy Leader in Telangana Assembly, T. Harish Rao, on Sunday slammed the Congress government for burdening people by increasing RTC bus fares during the festive season. 

He asked Chief Minister Revanth Reddy if he was pursuing a policy to burden the public by arbitrarily hiking fares of the Road Transport Corporation whenever a festival arrives.

“Instead of offering gifts to the people during the Bathukamma and Dussehra festivals, it is shameful to exploit them by doubling ticket prices,” the former minister said in a statement.

The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) leader said it was atrocious to reduce the number of regular bus services and then pick the pockets of passengers by introducing so-called "special" buses.

According to him, the ticket fare from JBS (Secunderabad) to Karimnagar has been hiked from Rs 230 to a staggering Rs 400. The fare from Mahabubnagar to MGBS (Hyderabad), which was Rs 220 until recently, is now over Rs 290.

“By doubling ticket fares across all routes in the state, you are draining people’s pockets and stripping away the joy of the festive season,” Harish Rao told the Chief Minister.

He alleged that, without increasing the total number of RTC buses, "festival special" signs are being displayed on regular buses to justify this ‘extortion’.

Harish Rao said the Congress government claims to offer free travel for women, only to charge double fare to men. “If a wife gets a free ticket, her husband is charged double. Can this truly be called a concession for women - or is it merely shifting the financial burden back onto the same family?” he asked.

The former minister said during the three years of Congress rule so far, RTC ticket fares have been hiked five times. Now, by charging double the fares under the pretext of the festive season, they are breaking the backs of the common people, he remarked.

“The approach of the Revanth-led government has created a situation where the poor and middle class are now afraid to even travel to their hometowns for festivals,” he said.

He demanded that the government respond immediately and roll back these exorbitant fare hikes imposed in the name of the festive season. 

Rao also urged the government to ensure that regular bus services operate as usual, so that no additional financial burden is placed on the poor and middle-class citizens.