The Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) has been left high and dry after un-lockdown 4 began. The reason being that the Telangana government had decided not to allow APSRTC buses to ply in the State without arriving at new agreement on the operation of services. This conundrum has led to a drastic fall in the number of inter-state bus services from AP to TS.
Officials from the APSRTC and the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) are at loggerheads over the distance of operations between the two.Both the RTCs wanted to recommence inter-state bus services, however, the APSRTC officials have reportedly not agreed to the conditions of their counterparts. APSRTC officials have been asked to reduce their bus operations and operate equally with TSRTC.“The number of inter-State buses and route km operated in Telangana by APSRTC is high. This will cause losses to TSRTC. We will resume bus services once both corporations come to an understanding. If APSRTC accepts our proposals, we will hold another meeting and take a call on the resumption of services,” said a senior TSRTC official.
The TSRTC wants APSRTC to run its operation in Telangana based on kilometres, similar to how it operates buses in Andhra Pradesh. Until both reach an agreement, the APSRTC offered to reduce the number of kilometres that it is currently operating in Telangana. Also, both run operations in an equal number of routes.
The TSRTC proposed to recommence operations by each starting 250 buses.The deadlock is burning APSRTC with huge losses in revenues. Officials from both sides have been holding marathon meetings for the last ten days, but no solution has been found so far.
Private services mint money
Both states prohibited plying private buses as stage carriers. However, it is an open secret that hundreds of buses continue to ply as stage carriers.The latest dispute between the APSRTC and TSRTC has turned into a golden opportunity for the private inter-state bus operators who are making a killing by charging exorbitant ticket prices. The number of private bus services from AP to TS has reportedly increased manifold after the un-lockdown-4. The tough posture adopted by the officials from both sides seems to further increase the losses to both the RTCs.
Meeting ended with no agreement
The inter-state bus operations between the two have come to a halt for the last four days. The meeting held on Tuesday has also ended with no agreement reached between the two on resuming bus services.