HRTC is continuously burdening the public: Rakesh
BJP’s former Mayor of Shimla Municipal Corporation Rakesh Sharma said that HRTC is continuously burdening the public. He accused the government that a person named Raj Kumar Nafail was traveling with 10 kg luggage in Solan depot HRTC bus which was going to Delhi but surprisingly the bus staff charged Rs 247 as fare for that luggage. Rakesh said that charging a fare for luggage is putting a burden on the public. If a person cannot carry his luggage on a government bus, then why would a common man travel in a government bus?
He said that the Congress government is continuously making anti-people decisions in Himachal Pradesh, and today, living proof of this anti-people decision has come before the public. The people of the state are distressed, but the government is happy. The only work left for the government is to take money out of the people’s pockets and increase the burden on the people of Himachal.
He said that the government had issued a notification for sending luggage from one place to another on rent in the buses of Himachal Path Parivahan Nigam (HRTC), which he had backed out from. The Transport Corporation had reduced the fare by amending clause number 26 of the luggage policy notified on 6 November 2023. As per the notification issued by the corporation, now one-fourth of the fare will have to be paid for sending luggage up to 5 kg without a passenger in HRTC buses, and half the fare will be charged for sending luggage from 6 kg to 20 kg. The full fare of one passenger will be charged for sending luggage from 21 kg to 40 kg, while the fare of two passengers will have to be paid for sending luggage from 41 kg to 80 kg. This will increase the huge burden on the public.
In February 2025, the state government approved the Amendment Bill-2024 to impose a tax on passengers and goods in Himachal Pradesh. Its notification has been issued by the Law Department. But the government was constantly denying this, so was the government lying at that time?
