Good news for all the bus pass holders in Hyderabad!! APSRTC, announced extension of expiry dates to all the bus pass holders (ordinary, metro express, metro deluxe, airport pass, A/C bus) to compensate the lost days due to strike. They have decided to add the days between September 19th and October 15th to the present month renewal.
Ever since RTC employees called on a strike from September 19th majority of the buses are confined to the depots till 15th October. This created a loss for the bus pass holders who paid in advance even for the days of strike. They eventually lost the opportunity to travel in city RTC buses between 19th September and 15th October, which made their bus pass useless during that time. So, in order to avoid such losses to the pass holders, RTC decided to add the lost days to their next renewal. This addition benefits around 2.4 lakh people who often use RTC buses to reach their respective destinations every day.
For instance let us assume that you are an ordinary bus pass holder who spends Rs. 550/- for your monthly renewal. Also, let us assume that your last renewal expired on 16th October and you went for a new renewal on 19th October. In general, if any one goes for a renewal on 19th October, they will get the expiry date as 18th November. But this time, since you lost the days from 19th September to 15th October, they will add 27 more days for your present renewal and make it till 15th December. So, your bus pass is now valid from 19th October to 15th December. Anyhow, you have to pay Rs 550/-. Student passes and route passes are exempted from this facility as they already are concessional passes.
Long queues at the bus pass counters
This news made many bus pass holders happy however, the scenario at the bus pass counters is quite alarming these days. Since the time the strike was called off people are rushing to the bus pass counters to get their passes renewed. Due to this, heavy rush is being observed at all the bus pass counters in the city. Though the RTC made a good decision, it failed to increase the required number of counters which are quite necessary to handle the crowd.
Every pass holder should aware about this information and make sure that their lost days get added, before leaving the counters.