Bengaluru: It was a long holiday for IT employee Prabhu. He had five days holiday from October 8 to October 12. He decided at the last moment to go to his native in Vijaywada. When he went to book tickets, he was shocked. A ticket, which would normally charge Rs 750 was Rs 2000. A hike of nearly 175 per cent shocked Prabhu. As he had promised his mother of coming during festive season, he had no options.
However, the real shock was when he boarded the bus. The bus was carrying twice the number of people. He had to adjust the seat with another person. Not able to sit, he got down from the bus. Speaking to NewsKarnataka, Prabhu said, “Private operators are looting people. I know they earn more during festive season compared to other season, so they charge more. However charging at such high rate is unfair. Along with that, they are carrying more people in the bus.”
“I had not planned to go to my native. However as my mother forced me, I had to oblige in last moment. I went to Majestic and booked a ticket in a private bus. I was shocked with their charges. What shocked me more was the number of people in bus. I spoke to a person next to me, who said that even he had no option and had to travel in this way,” he added.
Based on many complaints, the transport department has booked cases against private bus operators for multiple offences. Speaking about this, an official of transport department said, “We have received many complaints from passengers in last three days. We are looking into the matter. We have already booked complaints against bus operators for offences like permit violations, overcharging, carrying goods and others.”
Its high time transport department looks into this. People are being looted by these private operators. They should also increase government buses, so that people have more options. Travelling in train is tiresome for some, as it takes more time in some places. For instance, Bengaluru to Udupi takes 8 hours in bus; however, in train it takes 14 hours! This is the reason for people to prefer buses and with fewer options available, they are forced to travel in private buses at such high costs.
