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Holidays are here and bus fare touch the sky

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People who have packed their bags to come home for the festival this week end you have already spent a lot of money travelling than you usually do. As it has been happening over the years when there is a festival near a weekend the bus fares shoot up exorbitantly without any good reason for doing the same.

Look at this Shantadurga Mercedes regular fare Rs.500 weekend Rs.1000. same is the case with most of the other players leaving PVG. (Not sure about PAI)

Sahana told this blog, “We booked tickets last week, from Mumbai to Belgaum and return. Mumbai to Belgaum cost us Rs.550, same bus 25th night from Belgaum is 750? us din kya sone k seat lagane wale hain kya ye log? I really dont understand.”

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Normal Fare

“We just decided to travel home (Belgaum) by car from Bangalore. We are 3 people so 1500×3=4500 for a one time journey and same again for the return journey, instead of this I decided lets travel by car only, we would only spend about 4000 on our entire journey” said Puneet.2

The same situation of high fares in there in April 5 to 8. This is now a regular feature of hiking fares. The travel operators say they have to cover their losses for the year long service they provide and this is the only time when they can maximize the returns.

Public interest litigation has been filed in Mumbai against this unjust fare hike and the same has to yet come up for hearing.

The worst part there is no legislation which can keep a watch on the fare charged by these operators and the need for one is very important. We at AAB have been raising this issue ever since 2007 and keep on making awareness about the same. The worst part is we as commuters don’t have a choice and hence this LOOT.

0 thoughts on “Holidays are here and bus fare touch the sky”

  1. There should be some remedial measure provided by the RTO. The worst part is that many of the buses that ply aren’t well maintained. Only the new buses are in good shape. The journey on older buses is a pain, literally.

    One way to curb this nonsense is If the NWKRTC or other KSRTC launches special buses during such occasions. The state transport will make a profit for sure and private operators would be forced to maintain costs.

    Reply
  2. It’s certainly not convenient to pay high fares, but govt should not intervene into every part of the market. They are private operators and they should be allowed to choose what price to demand for their services. If the profits are too high, more operators will enter the market, increasing the supply to demand ratio and automatically bring the price down.

    Imagine if someone complains that clothes are getting very high priced during festival season and govt should ensure prices are reduced. Wouldn’t you call it interference, Uday? 🙂

    Reply
    • even in case of air fares the DGCA controls the fares to an extent and hence in this case as well they should be managed and hiked. A 500 ticket suddenly becomes 1000 same bus same seats WHY? only coz of high demand. then when a higher price is being paid the service should also improve in this case that particular bus.

      Reply
      • I am not arguing from the bus operator’s side. Yes, I too feel that they should not increase the ticket price drastically like this.

        BUT, I don’t think govt should interfere in these cases. In a free market, the private players should have the choice to decide the price for their products / services, since consumers have the choice to choose which product / service to support.

        There are special cases where free market is not applicable. For example, air fares may have to be moderated because runway space is limited. So even if you own a Boeing, you may not be able to use it without permit (which are limited). So free market doesn’t apply here.

        Reply
    • If the said operators are providing augmented services and improving services then it is understandable. But with the entry of newer players who start with shoestring budgets the competition is not on who provides better service but who can charge more and get away with it.
      To put it in plain and colloquial terms these operators are performing “chindigiri“.
      If they want to reduce on losses incurred through the year ask them to reduce the number of buses (many ply empty anyway) and control drivers and middle men taking on illegal seats. With online booking the latter is not very rampant anymore.
      Most buses used to work as couriers so what losses were they talking about?

      Reply
      • I just feel that it is their choice to do whatever they want with their service. And we can choose which business we take our money to.

        And, having too many laws and regulations has its down-side too. People find loop-holes in the laws anyway, and the cost of litigation and enforcement is simply a burden paid by the tax-payer (even those tax-payers who never use the services).

        Reply
  3. We should allow free market operation without exception. Today hundreds of buses ply on NH-4 from Mumbai – Bengaluru route only because there is a huge demand and Railways or the Airlines are not able to meet this adequately. Obviously private tour operators have their own lobby and they manage to restrict the Railways adding capacities or starting new services. It smells corruption everywhere.
    There is also a need for a good Regulatory body on the lines of DGCA who should control all aspects of private operators and bring in some discipline and orderliness so that customers are not exploited.
    But whether this Government has the will to do it?

    Reply

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