Officials at the helm of Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) are gearing up to rake in the moolah during this Sankranti festival.
This festival will be a special one for the public sector giant in terms of earning additional revenue, thanks to the inability of the Telangana Road Transport Corporation to operate special buses from Hyderabad to various destinations in Andhra Pradesh due to the implementation of the Mahalakshmi scheme that facilitates free travel for women within the State limits.
Grabbing the opportunity, the APSRTC officials quickly altered their initial plan to operate 1,600 special buses from Hyderabad towards Andhra Pradesh and increased the number to 3,000 now.
In keeping with the tradition of operating special buses to clear the additional traffic during the Sankranti festival from cities like Hyderabad, Bengaluru and Chennai towards various destinations across Andhra Pradesh, the APSRTC plans to operate 6,795 special buses from January 10, on normal fares.
Hyderabad being a hot destination for people criss-crossing across the States during the festival season, the revenue earned on account of catering to their commuting needs is shared by the TSRTC, APSRTC and private operators.
The fact that the TSRTC is unable to pool buses for special operations to various destinations in Andhra Pradesh as there is a huge demand for intra-State travel in Telangana under the Mahalakhmi scheme that facilitates free travel for women, has come in handy for the APSRTC to utilise this opportunity to rake in the moolah.
“We are hopeful that we will be able to earn additional revenue this year due to the prevailing favourable conditions. Moreover, people are bound to opt for APSRTC services first as we are charging normal fares unlike the private operators who have jacked up the ticket prices,” said an official, informing that the corporation would deploy adequate staff at key positions to ensure maximum utilisation of the services of its fleet of buses deployed for the public during the festival season.
