Pvt Bus Operators’ Offices Raided
Published: 24th December 2014 06:01 AM | Last Updated: 24th December 2014 06:01 AM | A+A A-
BENGALURU: Last minute bookings for buses during the Holiday Season may not be a good idea at all as a raid on private buses by the Transport Department officials revealed several problems with such buses Tuesday.
On Tuesday morning, several private bus operators’ offices were raided in Majestic area. The transport officials seized 47 buses belonging to several companies when they found offences which could not be compounded and imposed fines on the spot. The owners of these buses, officials said, would now have to appear before courts which would decide the punishment.
“We decided to inspect buses which have been put into operation during the festival rush. We have seized around 50 buses. There were issues with safety and permit violations,” Narendra Holkar, Joint Commissioner of Transport, said.
Another official said, “Violations like blocked emergency exits, installation of 42 seats as opposed to the permitted 32 seats and air horns and illegal conversion of buses into sleeper coaches were found. The punishment for these offences will be decided by the court and we will implement them. The buses will remain seized.”
Meanwhile, the prices of tickets for normal bus services to several cities from Bengaluru shot up for travel on Wednesday with tickets for Hyderabad selling as high as `2,400 for an A/C Volvo Semi Sleeper Bus. The same tickets are available at `1,000 the very next day. Bus tickets to Mumbai were selling between `3,500 and 3900 for travel on Wednesday with the price dropping to `1,500 the very next day. KSRTC said that there is no immediate plan to operate extra buses.
