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Pune’s inter city private buses hike ticket prices, RTO yet to take action
Diwali rush: Private bus operators charge more than 1.5 times, MSRTC ticket rates
Inter-city private bus operators have faced no action from the regional transport authorities (RTO), even though some operators are flouting government resolution by charging exploitative rates on ticket fare during Diwali rush.
Vinod Sagre, deputy regional transport officer however maintained that the RTO has not received any complaints as a result of which no action has been taken so far.
The fare of private buses is high on the days in the run-up to Diwali, that is till November 6. The fare, however, on the three days of Diwali - November 7, 8, 9 - is back to normal. However, on the day after Diwali, i.e, starting November 10, the fare skyrockets again.
This surge pricing comes even after the state government had issued a resolution on April 27, 2018, that private bus contractors cannot charge more than 1.5 times the fare charged by the Maharashtra state road transport corporation (MSRTC) buses. Moreover, MSRTC also announced the annual fare hike during Diwali . Between November 1 and November 17, the MSRTC fare will be increased by 10 per cent, as per the order issued by Diwakar Raote, state transport minister and chairman of MSRTC. The RTO had also held a meeting along with the private bus operators to convey the decision.
“I was not present at the meeting. We have not faced any action from the RTO because our rates are as per the rule - 1.5 times the MSRTC rates,” said Atul Waikos of Saini travels. However, a bus by Saini travels leaving from Sangamwadi and heading towards Amravati was being sold at ₹2,817 (sleeper) on an online aggregator platform. As the MSRTC rate of that route is ₹1,585, the fare should not have exceeded ₹2,377.
