BENGALURU: The Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is cracking down on private travel agents after unearthing a scam in which agents would book tickets on KSRTC buses, days in advance, and sell them for higher prices offline, just a few hours before the bus is scheduled to depart.
After receiving several complaints from passengers who said that seats were unavailable in spite of extra buses and advance online booking, members of the Vigilance and Security raided the offices of a travel agent in Vellore, earlier this week and found 12 seats were booked by the agent in false names.
The agent was then blacklisted.
Regular travellers however say that this custom is far more widespread as it is hard to find tickets in holiday season. Regular users of the service said that the custom of checking the ID card of the passenger, a security precaution to prevent such a situation, is barely followed by the bus staff.
A statement by KSRTC said that this practice resulted in artificial seat scarcity. A KSRCTC official said, “Complaints can be sent to awatar@ksrtc.org. If anyone comes across such practice, they can tip us off at 7760990034/35. We will take action against the agents.”