Hyderabad, Jan 7: Transport Minister Satrucharla Vijayaramaraju on Thursday said the decision to jack up APSRTC fares was taken without consulting him or the Chief Minister.After holding a meeting with Chief Minister K Rosaiah over the issue, the Minister told newsmen that RTC Managing Director S S P Yadav had taken the decision to revise bus fares unilaterally without consulting his higher-ups.“The RTC MD even did not inform the Chief Minister of the decision to hike the bus fares,” the Minister said.
The Minister said he had informed the Chief Minister of the inconvenience caused to the comon man due to the increased fare. The Minister also urged the Chief Minister to reconsider the decision as it would put additional burden on the commuters.The Minister also condemned the remarks made by Yadav against Chief Minister and the Government would initiate action against the MD after verifying his statements.
The Chief Minister would take a decision on the fares before making an announcement by Thursday evening, he said.However, defending the increase in fares, Yadav said the hike is inevitable as the RTC has incurred huge losses due to continued agitations across the state.Yadav also admitted that he did not make any unsavoury comments against the Chief Minister as reported in a section of the media.