HYDERABAD: The Andhra Pradesh Transport Department's ban on online booking of tickets for private buses after two ghastly accidents killed more than 50 is set to hurt ticketing companies like Redbus and Abhibus. The transport department authorities claim that under Indian law, the private players are only given permission to ply group tours between places and are not allowed to sell tickets individually.
As a result, they have banned tickets being sold online. Already, hundreds of private buses have been taken off the roads for not complying with the safety requirements. In Andhra Pradesh, nearly 800 buses went off the roads. Similarly, authorities in neighbouring Karnataka have also seized hundreds of buses and booked about 4,000 cases against private bus operators. The clampdown on the private operators began after two accidents -- the first one killed 45 in Andhra Pradesh's Mahbubnagar and the second took place in Haveri (Karnataka), killing seven.
"It will impact the entire industry," said Phanindra Sama, chief executive of RedBus, India's largest online bus-ticketing player with amarket share of about 60%. He refused to give an estimate of the expected loss. However, a senior executive at Redbus.in, who did not want to be identified, said the impact could be about 30%. "The impact is mostly felt in Andhra Pradesh. Operations in rest of states are nearly normal," he said. Andhra Pradesh accounts for a fifth of the private bus market, which currently is at about Rs 15,000 crore. The total bus ticketing market in the country, including the share of various government-operated ones, is at about Rs 40,000 crore.
Sudhakar Reddy Chirra, founder and chief executive officer of Abhibus.com, which reported Rs 140 crore of business last fiscal, said business at his firm was down by a fifth. "Since we have many other software products which are given to the public transport organisations for booking tickets online, the impact is less on us." B Venkateswarlu, joint transport commissioner with Andhra Pradesh's Transport Department, said as many as 500 buses were voluntarily withdrawn by their owners.
"About 900 buses were seized by us. We have booked over 1,200 cases after the accident as against 1,500 cases booked during the last one year." The bus owners are worried that if the clampdown continues, it will kill their sector. UP Chhattisgarh Model may Hold Solution
H Subhash Chandra Bose, the president of Andhra Pradesh Private Bus Operators' Association, said nearly 90% of the private buses were off the roads now. "We fail to understand why Andhra Pradesh is the only state in the country which finds online ticketing illegal and is forcing us not to sell tickets even offline to individuals ," said Bose, who owns SVR Travels, an operator of luxury buses with a fleet of 120.
HT Ramakrishna, president of Kesineni group, which owns 110 luxury buses, urged the AP government to come with a solution that is similar to the one implemented in states like Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In those states, the private buses are hired by the state-owned Road Transport Corporations on a revenue-sharing model. "If that model is not accepted, then they should allow us to run our buses as usual," he said.
As a result, they have banned tickets being sold online. Already, hundreds of private buses have been taken off the roads for not complying with the safety requirements. In Andhra Pradesh, nearly 800 buses went off the roads. Similarly, authorities in neighbouring Karnataka have also seized hundreds of buses and booked about 4,000 cases against private bus operators. The clampdown on the private operators began after two accidents -- the first one killed 45 in Andhra Pradesh's Mahbubnagar and the second took place in Haveri (Karnataka), killing seven.
"It will impact the entire industry," said Phanindra Sama, chief executive of RedBus, India's largest online bus-ticketing player with amarket share of about 60%. He refused to give an estimate of the expected loss. However, a senior executive at Redbus.in, who did not want to be identified, said the impact could be about 30%. "The impact is mostly felt in Andhra Pradesh. Operations in rest of states are nearly normal," he said. Andhra Pradesh accounts for a fifth of the private bus market, which currently is at about Rs 15,000 crore. The total bus ticketing market in the country, including the share of various government-operated ones, is at about Rs 40,000 crore.
Sudhakar Reddy Chirra, founder and chief executive officer of Abhibus.com, which reported Rs 140 crore of business last fiscal, said business at his firm was down by a fifth. "Since we have many other software products which are given to the public transport organisations for booking tickets online, the impact is less on us." B Venkateswarlu, joint transport commissioner with Andhra Pradesh's Transport Department, said as many as 500 buses were voluntarily withdrawn by their owners.
"About 900 buses were seized by us. We have booked over 1,200 cases after the accident as against 1,500 cases booked during the last one year." The bus owners are worried that if the clampdown continues, it will kill their sector. UP Chhattisgarh Model may Hold Solution
H Subhash Chandra Bose, the president of Andhra Pradesh Private Bus Operators' Association, said nearly 90% of the private buses were off the roads now. "We fail to understand why Andhra Pradesh is the only state in the country which finds online ticketing illegal and is forcing us not to sell tickets even offline to individuals ," said Bose, who owns SVR Travels, an operator of luxury buses with a fleet of 120.
HT Ramakrishna, president of Kesineni group, which owns 110 luxury buses, urged the AP government to come with a solution that is similar to the one implemented in states like Uttar Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. In those states, the private buses are hired by the state-owned Road Transport Corporations on a revenue-sharing model. "If that model is not accepted, then they should allow us to run our buses as usual," he said.
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