Following the Arunachal Pradesh government's decision to cancel the registration and national permits of buses that were registered with them, but not plying in their state, the fallout is being felt in the two Telugu states.
Following the move, around 900 buses operating in Telangana and Andhra were reportedly cancelled on Wednesday and Thursday.
Reporting that nearly all of them were sleeper coaches that could be halted for two days or more, the Deccan Chronicle reported that the private travel operators will have to get a stay from the Guwahati High Court.
Stating that they were cancelling 136 sleeper coach buses, a senior HR manager from Orange Tours and Travels told Deccan Chronicle, “We are expecting a solution to the ongoing issues. Ours is a major travel business with sleeper coaches registered in Arunachal Pradesh. Other major travel companies have taken a similar decision."
Most of these operators have been refunding the tickets, as they have no means of providing alternate transport.
This came even as Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu directed the Transport Department on Tuesday, to seize any private travel buses whose registrations had been cancelled.
Stating that special teams were formed for implementing this, reports suggested that Naidu also asked the APSRTC to make alternate arrangements for passengers left in the lurch.
The Hindu reported that state Transport Minister K. Achannaidu was overseeing arrangements to ensure that public transport could handle the load of commuters, if several private buses went off the roads.
Meanwhile, even the Telangana government cracked the whip and said that it too, would seize buses plying illegally in the state.
“Once an order is issued it has to go to all the District Transport Offices (DTOs), then they will issue a notice to the owners and only then will they cancel the registration. Only after the AP RTA gives us details on how many such vehicles are plying in Telangana can we take action. We have contacted them and are awaiting a response,” T Raghunath, Joint Transport Commissioner, RTA told The New Indian Express.
Earlier this week, the Arunachal Pradesh Transport Commissioner B Siram wrote two letters to all the District Transport Officers in the State, and asked them to identify and crackdown on such operators, who violated the Central Motor Vehicle Act, 1989.
The private buses were registered in Arunachal Pradesh as it was cheaper at around Rs 17,000, compared to Rs 5 lakh in the Telugu states.
Rates were kept low in the north-eastern state to promote tourism.