Andhra Pradesh: Talks with bus owners successful; strike called off.

Vijayawada: In a relief to commuters ahead of the Sankranti festival rush, talks between the state road transport corporation and the hire bus owners’ associations on Thursday led to a withdrawal of the proposed strike from January 12.

APSRTC confirmed that hire-buses would operate as usual during Sankranti, ensuring hassle-free travel for passengers across the state.

The talks at the RTC House here saw RTC vice -chairman and MD Dwaraka Tirumala Rao urging the associations not to inconvenience passengers during the festive season.

Representatives of the bus owners associations placed their long-pending issues before the APSRTC management. Tirumala Rao assured them that the problems would be resolved by January 20. Following this, the associations decided to call off their strike.

Senior APSRTC officials including executive directors KS Brahmananda Reddy, A Appalaraju, Ravi Varma, and chief accounts officer N Sudhakar Rao participated in the discussions.