Your destination not in this machine sir: TSRTC conductors

Hyderabad: The passengers of Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) are hurdled by losing extra money while travelling as commuters of the State-run buses say that conductors are looting them by issuing the ticket either one stop ahead of their destination or a stop before they board, thereby charging an excess fare on the ticket.

Generally, when a passenger boards the bus at a stop, the conductor issues the ticket from the same boarding point. But now it has become a common practice in these State-run buses for conductors to issue the ticket one stop ahead from the actual boarding stop.

According to passengers, they are being cheated by the corporation and in most of the bus routes, the issue that has been observed is that the passengers are paying in excess of at least Rs 5 and in long-distance cases, it can range anywhere between Rs 20 to Rs 30. "Conductors give several explanations regarding the excess fare added to the ticket and sometimes they say that the bus stop where the passenger had boarded was not registered in the TIM (Ticket Issuing Machine) and then there are no boarding stops at all, sometimes they charge extra for not being able to tender change and round off the money," pointed out Sathi Reddy.

Narrating the experience, Praveen Barpati said, "I boarded an RTC bus at the L B Nagar bus stop, but the conductor issued the ticket from Alkapuri bus stop, which is over 3 kilometers away from L B Nagar. I asked him to issue a ticket from L B Nagar, but he replied saying that there is no boarding stop at L B Nagar. This is an indirect robbery from us commoners".

Praveen questions stating, "This is not the first time that the buses are plying from these bus stops across Greater Hyderabad, as they are decades old, then how can there not be a boarding stop in a major area like L B Nagar area and how are the machines not registered with such bus stops while issuing tickets?".

Several complaints were also raised on social media platforms, Sanjay Reddy said that he boarded a bus from Raigiri, but received a ticket from Chada. "Conductor is saying there is no option to issue a ticket for Raigiri in Bhongir in their machines so they issued a ticket from Chada village, which is more than 16 kilometers behind Raigiri, for which I had to bear the excess ticket fare. What is this hidden form of passenger looting?," he tweeted by tagging TSRTC and MD TSRTC's handles.

Divya Khatri, a regular TSRTC passenger, said that the issue is also pertinent at the passenger's destination. We are forced to spend more, as the conductors charge till the next major stop or the last bus stop. "I spent Rs 10 extra as the conductor issued me a ticket for a major bus stand in Midhani, instead of Saidabad," she added.

She also said that most of the time conductors charge extra in the pretext of not having proper change and though the corporation had revised the fares, with a round-off of Rs 5, in the name of rationalisation, yet still conductors are unable to tender change in return and thereby charge excess. "Such complaints are rising by the day, but the corporation is turning a lackadaisical attitude and people are the ones who are losing extra money in commuting in these State-owned buses."