Pvt buses offer rebate to counter govt’s 50% discount for women
Archit Watts
Tribune News Service
Muktsar, March 14
As the state government has announced 50 per cent discount in fare for women from April 1 in Punjab Roadways and PRTC buses, some private bus operators have already started giving concessions to passengers, both men and women, just to compete with state-run buses.
While travelling from Muktsar to Malout, a private bus conductor told this correspondent that he would charge Rs25 instead of Rs35 from regular passengers from now onwards. “Earlier, we were not giving any discount to passengers. But now, we have to compete with the state-run buses thus giving some discount in fare to regular passengers.”
Meanwhile, a conductor of a PRTC bus said, “At present, most of the state buses are running with almost half their capacity. But we are expecting a huge rush of passengers after March 31. We will even have to skip some bus stops as the influx of passengers is expected to become double with this half fare scheme for women.”
Some women travellers too said they would prefer to travel in Punjab Roadways and PRTC buses from April 1. “The state-run buses are comparatively safer than the private ones. Further, the staff are polite than private buses. Senior citizens should also be covered under the scheme,” some women travellers said.
