Notices served on online bus ticket booking portals
HYDERABAD: Regional Transport Authority (RTA) has served showcause notices on online bus ticket booking portals as they were indulging in sale of tickets of pubic service vehicles without proper licence as mentioned in Section 93 of the Motor Vehicle (MV) Act.
According to Section 93 of the Motor Vehicle Act, no person shall engage himself as an agent in the sale of tickets for travel by public service vehicles or soliciting customers for such vehicles unless he has a licence from such authority and subject to such condition as may be prescribed by the state government, B Venkateswarlu, joint transport commissioner, Vigilance and Legal Cell, RTA Khairtabad, has said.
He said that private buses were given permission to ply as contract carriages which means they can pick up a group of passengers from one point and drop them at another point.
Several bus ticket booking counters sell tickets of private buses throughout the city with most of them located at Ameerpet, Khairtabad, Lakdikapul and other locations.
An official of the RTA said that the online and offline portals sell individual tickets, which are in violation of contract carriage permit. The officials have initiated action against offline booking counters also.
Private bus ticket booking counters and online websites have been doing the business for quite some time. Clearing the air about why the department is taking action on the portals now, the official said that they have been continuously enforcing laws and slapped 1,500 cases against private bus operators in 2012.
'This action of sending notices is part of our continuous efforts to ensure road safety and safety of passengers,' the official said. He further said that they are would continue to inspect buses and will seize those which are plying as stage carriages.
To avoid inconvenience to the passengers, the official advised people to use public transport only as private buses may be detained anytime if found violating rules.
News Posted: 8 January, 2014
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