THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Travelling home from all major southern cities is proving to be a costly affair for those relying on private inter-state buses this festive season. A ticket from Bengaluru to Kochi can now cost as high as Rs 7,000, depending on the day and time of travel. Faced with fully booked trains and sky-high airfares, many are turning to multi-axle buses for last-minute bookings.
And, in response to heightened demand, operators have raised prices by up to 250%. Around 90 private buses currently operate on the Bengaluru-Kochi route. The minimum fare for a non-AC seat is Rs 1,700, with only four services offering seats within the Rs 2,000 range. A ticket to Thiruvananthapuram can cost between Rs 1,500 and Rs 5,000, while fares to Kozhikode are priced between Rs 2,199 and Rs 3,400.
Fares this Friday on the Hyderabad-Kochi route are between Rs 7,000 and Rs 5,200, while they range from Rs 2,000-4,000 on the Chennai-Kochi sector.
Both the Kerala and Karnataka road transport corporations (RTCs) are supplementing their regular 49 services with an additional 29 services from Bengaluru. KSRTC offers competitive rates, ranging from Rs 1,037 to Rs 2,361, depending on the bus class. These services are, however, struggling to meet the overwhelming demand.
“At least 5,000 people travel daily from major cities to Kerala, and during the festive season, this number doubles. The railway and KSRTC services are unable to cope with the demand, leading to the addition of at least 25 new private bus services on the Bengaluru-Kerala routes this season,” said S Prasanthan, general secretary of the Contract Carriage Operators Association (CCOA).
It takes 20 buses to transport 1,000 people, and the introduction of the All India Tourist Permit (AITP) has empowered owners to run more long-distance services. Bus operators are also truncating return services to concentrate on Bengaluru-Kerala trips, capitalising on the profit potential of these bustling routes.
Bus operators claim an Rs 800 loss per seat when buses return without passengers. They compensate for this loss by charging higher fares for the popular Bengaluru-Kerala service.
Though the Interstate Bus Operators Association of Karnataka (IBOAK) had a plan to put a cap on the maximum ticket price it did not materialise. Similarly, government attempts to regulate prices have not made headway.