Hyderabad, Jan 7 (IANS) Bus fares in Andhra Pradesh were increased by a steep 20 to 25 percent, evoking strong protest by opposition parties Thursday even as the state government claimed the move was taken without its knowledge.
The state, which is already facing protests over the Telangana issue, witnessed another demonstration Thursday as the main opposition Telugu Desam Party (TDP) along with the BJP and the two communist parties demanded immediate rollback of the increase in fare, announced by the Andhra Pradesh State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) late Wednesday.

However, in a surprise development, Minister for Transport S. Vijayaramaraju claimed that the APSRTC management’s decision was unilateral and was taken without informing him or Chief Minister K. Rosaiah.

The minister told reporters that the chief minister would take a decision on this as soon as possible and will also take action against APSRTC managing director S.S.P. Yadav.

APSRTC, the world’s largest road transport company with over 21,000 buses in its fleet, released a statement late Wednesday hiking the bus fares by 20 to 25 percent. The hike from eight to 25 paise per km for different categories of buses was effected from midnight.

The company, which carries nearly 14 million people to their destinations every day and has over 115,000 employees, entered the Guinness Book of World Records in 1999 for owning the largest fleet of buses.

The APSRTC announcement came hours after the transport minister told a news conference that the government was considering a proposal to revise the fares in view of the 24 percent raise in the wages of the employees that has put an additional burden of Rs.459 crore on the corporation.

The wages were revised by the government Tuesday to avert an indefinite strike by the employees of the cash-strapped APSRTC.

The minister also pointed out that the hike was inevitable as the corporation had suffered a loss of Rs.240 crore during the agitation over the Telangana issue. As many as 700 APSRTC buses were damaged by protestors across the state.

The opposition parties staged sit-in at APSRTC depots. They alleged that the move had burdened the common man already reeling under increase in food prices. Leaders of the ruling Congress party also criticised the hike.

The transport minister Thursday said action would also be taken against Yadav for making objectionable remarks about the chief minister at a meeting.

Yadav was removed as director general of police in October last year for his controversial statements following the death of chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy in a helicopter crash Sep 2.

Yadav was earlier removed as police chief on the orders of the election commission for praising Reddy during the election process in April but was reinstated when the latter became chief minister for the second term in May.