Hyderabad: The Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) decided to apply an additional diesel cess on Wednesday, which tends to revise the bus fares across the state except for passengers in Greater Hyderabad. In all types of the district and long-distance services, the corporation levied an additional diesel cess in slabs of Rs 5 and upwards, depending on the distance travelled by the passengers.
The cess for Pallevelugu or rural services will range from Rs 5 to 45 for the distance of every 250 kilometres. Express bus passengers will be charged an additional Rs 5 to Rs 90 for every 500 kilometres travelled. The slab will be Rs 10 to Rs 170 for 500 km in A/C services, Rs 5 to Rs 125 for 500 km in Deluxe, and Rs 10 to Rs 130 for 500 km in Super Luxury.
The minimum fare of Rs 10 would not alter for Pallevelugu services to avoid burdening short-distance travellers. The diesel cess will not be levied in the Greater Hyderabad area.
Also read | Hyderabad Gang Rape: Congress Allege Police Hiding Vital Information
In another move, TSRTC has increased student bus pass prices in the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and rural areas of districts. The most recent hike in bus pass fares occurred in 2019.
The TSRTC chairman Baji Reddy Goverdhan said this cess could not cover the increased cost because of increased diesel prices. "Hence, it has become inevitable to levy diesel cess, which will be more for passengers travelling more distance in our buses and less for passengers travelling for a short distance in our buses," said Baji Reddy as reported by IANS.
(With inputs from ABP Desam — It is a Telugu platform of ABP News. For more news, commentary and latest happenings from two Telugu states, follow https://telugu.abplive.com//amp)