Exorbitant bus fares shock city travellers

NT Correspondent

Bengaluru: Passengers travelling back to their hometowns from the city were in for a shock after they found a steep rise in private bus fares in the wake of Christmas and New Year vacations.

Cashing in on the situation, the private bus operators have reportedly hiked their prices twofold, and in some cases, threefold, in the last two days. The state chairman of the Karnataka Interstate Bus Operators’ Association, Rijas AJ, however, said that the 250 percent price hike is limited only to a few bus operators.

“There is a good demand from passengers for buses that offer reasonable rates,” he said. The operators are focusing on Bengaluru-Kerala trips and are cutting short on return service from the districts, he added.

“The operators suffer a loss of around Rs 800 when a bus returns without any passengers. We make up for the loss by charging extra for the Bengaluru to Kerala trips,” he added. However, some of the private buses allegedly demanded triple the fare amounts from the passengers travelling to the districts.

According to sources, passengers going to Belagavi were asked to shell out Rs 4500 per ticket instead of the usual fare of Rs 900. Similarly, a few buses to Mysuru demanded Rs 1500, for Mangaluru they demanded Rs 4000, for Shivamogga Rs 1800, Udupi Rs 3449, Kodagu Rs 1450, Goa Rs 7000; and Ernakulam Rs 7000, which is about threefold their normal fares.

When the issue was brought to the attention of the Additional Commissioner for Transport, C Mallikarjun, he carried out an inspection to verify the ticket prices from the private operators near Race Course Road.

He also checked the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) buses, including the Sarige and Ambari buses. It is alleged that the private lobby is taking advantage of the shortage of KSRTC buses and looting the people. Private bus lobbies take advantage of the early sell-out of train tickets on these routes.

Reputed companies are at the forefront when it comes to charging high ticket fares. At least during the holiday season, more trains and government buses are needed, according to students, parents, and people working outside of Bengaluru.