Tirupati: Rising diesel costs hit transport sector

Tirupati: The unabated rise in fuel prices has been seriously affecting the transport sector and people. The prices of petrol and diesel have been hiked for 13th time in 15 days by Tuesday. As a result petrol now costs Rs.120.61 while diesel price stands at Rs.106.19 per litre in Tirupati.

Cab operators and other persons affiliated with transport sector has been worst hit due to hike. The cab drivers and owners said that they have been passing through the most unfavourable and unfortunate stages and felt that they have wrongly entered this profession. They blamed government for anti-people policies.

''After experiencing the brunt of Covid pandemic for two years now they have been getting business with the increased pilgrimage. But to their dismay, in the recent past the diesel price has gone up by almost Rs.14 which lays an additional burden of about Rs.100 on each Tirumala trip (up and down) which on many cases could not be passed on to the passengers due to stiff competition'', said the president of Sri Varasiddi Vinayaka taxi owners and drivers welfare association V Venkateswara Reddy.

Talking to The Hans India he said they could not make any profit from their profession which is causing miseries to them. The monthly incomes have come down by almost 30-40 percent due to increasing costs and inelastic rentals. The situation became pathetic as they could not even manage their routine affairs like educating the children and said that still they cannot leave the profession as they don't know any other work.

However, in reality the cab operators have been naturally shifting the burden on the people who hire the vehicles and charging abnormally in the name of rising diesel prices. A pilgrim said, the vehicle drivers were asking more than Rs.1300 which was about Rs.400-500 higher than the previous price.

A leader of the auto drivers union who wished to be anonymous has agreed that the cab and auto operators are fleecing the passengers. But it was there in every field from roadside eateries to big hotels who have been charging exorbitant prices after a slump of two years. The minimum fare in auto-rickshaw has been doubled now while the drivers were charging almost 30 percent more citing diesel burden.

The police and transport department officials have to convene a meeting with the cab and auto operators immediately and fix new tariffs. They should also make it mandatory to display phone numbers on every vehicle to enable the passengers to complain to officials about the exorbitant prices. The operators said that the official tariff was fixed in 2014 only and never revised since then which gives wings to the rates.