Hyderabad: Private bus operators are once again illegally minting money from the people heading home for Sankranti. The bus rates currently are almost 150 per cent more than regular rates. All buses from Hyderabad to different parts of AP have hiked their rates. Lack of monitoring from the road transport officials has given the bus operators a free hand.

Even though AP transport minister Sidda Raghava has clearly warned all the private bus operators to not charge extra during the festive season, the operators have not mended their ways.

People going towards Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Rajahmundry, Tirupati, Kadapa, Kurnool and other locations are the worst hit. On websites like Redbus, the private bus operators openly display their hiked prices.

“Sankranti is really a festival for these private bus operators. As there is a long waiting list on trains, we only have the option of private buses,” said Ganesh, who is on his way to Rajahmundry.

For Rajahmundry, on regular days, a private AC bus ticket costs between Rs 600 and Rs 700. Currently, the tickets are priced at Rs 1,690. For Vijayawada, on normal days it is Rs 550 for AC. However, the price has shot up to Rs 2,000 during Sankranti. A trip to Vizag usually costs Rs 900 in an AC bus. Now, a person needs to shell out almost Rs 2,000.

When it comes to enforcement, there seems to be no initiative from the officials.

“It is not our job to monitor the private buses charges. The government should decide the charges,” said RTO joint commissioner T. Raghunath. He added “Private buses don’t have the permission to run individual services. Only the APSRTC has the permission to run buses as stage carriers. Private buses can only ply on contract carriage basis.”