BRS deputy floor leader T Harish Rao has demanded that the Telangana government withdraw fare hikes on special buses operating during Bathukamma and Dasara, alleging that higher charges and reduced regular services are placing an additional burden on families travelling to their native places.
Rao said the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation’s festival arrangements were making intercity travel more expensive for poor and middle-class households. He alleged that the government had reduced regular bus services while charging higher fares for special services, without proportionately increasing the number of buses available to passengers.
Citing fare comparisons, Rao said a ticket from Jubilee Bus Station in Hyderabad to Karimnagar, which normally costs Rs 230, was being priced at Rs 400 on a special service. He also said fares from Mahabubnagar to Mahatma Gandhi Bus Station in Hyderabad had risen from Rs 220 to more than Rs 290.
The allegations come as passengers travel to their native places for Bathukamma and Dasara celebrations, a period that typically places additional demand on intercity public transport. Rao said the increased charges could discourage families from making festival journeys, particularly when regular services were not available in sufficient numbers.
He also questioned the financial impact of the government’s free bus travel scheme for women. Rao asked whether offering free travel to women while charging men substantially higher fares effectively shifted the cost of the concession onto the same families. “Is this your people’s governance?” he asked while criticising the fare structure.
Rao further alleged that the Congress government had increased Telangana State Road Transport Corporation fares five times in nearly three years and accused it of taking advantage of the festive rush. The claim was not accompanied by details of the individual fare revisions in the statement reported by Telangana Today.
He called for the restoration of regular services and the withdrawal of festival-related fare hikes. The report did not include a response from the Telangana government or the transport corporation to the allegations or indicate whether the special fares would be revised.
