Drive against private buses during festival season: RTO

Pune: The Pune RTO has told private bus operators to not overcharge passengers or overload vehicles during the festive season beginning with Ganeshotsav next week.A campaign to ensure the said directives would begin soon and commuters have been told to contact the authority in case of violations. “The RTO can be contacted via e-mail at rto.12-mh@gov.in. Citizens may call us at 020-26058080 and 020-26058090,” Sanjiv Bhor, who holds the additional post of Pune RTO, said.As per state regulations, a private bus could increase its fare by 50% of that of an MSRTC bus of the same make travelling to the same location. “The same formula applies to luxury and semi-luxury buses during the festive season only,” Bhor added.“There have been instances wherein private bus owners charge exorbitant fares and overload buses. There have been some serious accidents in the past. The campaign will continue through the festive season and random checks will take place,” another RTO official pointed out. The MSRTC will run over 3,000 buses to Konkan during Ganeshotsav and 153 buses will ply to the region from Pune.