THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Those travelling from Bengaluru to Kerala for the Christmas vacation are feeling the pinch as the private bus companies have started charging exorbitant rates. Operators have increased fares by over 250% to make the most of the festive season. An operator charged Rs 6,300 for a seat in a multi-axle sleeper bus on Saturday night. Interestingly, there were also seats available for Rs 1,000 among 63 bus services on the same day.
Bus fares this season have gone through the roof even as additional services by both Kerala and Karnataka RTCs are failing to meet the demand for seats. The absence of special train services in the sector has worsened the situation.
Bus operators say the over 250% price hike is limited to a few operators. But they admit that general fares have increased in the 80-100% range this festival season. “There has been a general increase in fares. However, there is good demand from passengers for buses that offer reasonable rates,” said Rijas A J, state chairman of Interstate Bus Operators’ Association of Karnataka (IBOAK).
Rijas, who is also state chairman of Bus and Car Operators Confederation of India (BOCI), said bus operators are cutting short return service to focus on Bengaluru-Kerala trips. “When they sent back the bus without any passengers the operators suffer a loss of Rs 800 per seat. We make up for the loss by charging more for the Bengaluru-Kerala trip,” said Rijas.
According to him, the operators have had to pass the additional tax burden onto the passengers. A bus operator has to pay Rs 12 lakh in Kerala and Rs 20 lakh in Tamil Nadu for a service as the respective state governments have started charging separate taxes for buses registered outside the state.
IBOAK fixed a minimum charge for Kerala-Karnataka trips after the former introduced vehicle tax for all inter-state buses registered outside the state from November 1. Though they claimed that they would cap the maximum fare during the Christmas season no such decision was taken. A member of IBOAK said that the decision was left to the market.
“There are bus operators who introduced steep hikes. But they are forced to reduce it as there were less takers for the service,” he said. The Kerala State Transport Corporation (KSRTC) is also operating 29 additional services from Bengaluru along with the regular 49 services. The Karnataka State Transport Corporation also operates a similar number of services. Kerala RTC charges 10-30% extra for seats during the season. The railways on Thursday announced that it will operate an additional pair of trains from Mysuru to Kochuveli on December 23 and 25. The return trips are on December 24 and 26.