Private Bus Operators Take Advantage of Assembly Polls: Hike Bus Fares

Private Bus Operators Take Advantage of Assembly Polls: Hike Bus Fares

Elections are round the corner and people are planning to travel to their respective places to cast votes. Summer vacations and elections have increased vehicular movement. People living in the coastal districts are largely dependent on private buses.

A large number of people use the private bus services between Mangalore and Udupi. Private bus operators are taking advantage of the situation and thus have hiked the fares.  Bus fares have been raised on Mangalore-Bangalore, Mangalore-Mysuru, Mangalore-Hubballi routes. Tickets from Bangalore and Mangalore on some of the buses which were sold for about Rs 1,000 are now being sold for more than Rs 2,500.

Commuters are complaining about how they could go about exercising their franchise given this hike in bus fares. In the past too, private bus operators had hiked fares during festival seasons such as Deepavali, Eid, Christmas and Dasara when the owners wished to make a good profit.