Passengers bear the brunt as Chief minister HD Kumaraswamy sits on proposal to hike bus fare

BENGALURU: Chief minister HD Kumaraswamy may be dilly-dallying on the proposal to increase fares of private buses operating to multiple destinations under stage carriage permits. But that hasn’t stopped bus operators with contract carriage permits — issued for point-to-point services and not under state regulation — from fleecing commuters by illegally running their vehicles as stage carriages.
Not only are the operators making money by resorting to steep hikes but also by halting vehicles at multiple stops to pick up passengers.
Officials in the chief minister’s office said the CM is in favour of easing passengers’ burden by cutting costs in the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) rather than hiking fares. The government has no role to play in contract carriage bus fares but notifies fares for buses operated by KSRTC, which are applicable to private stage carriage operators as well.
“It has come to our notice that a few contract carriage operators are illegally running their vehicles as stage carriages, citing the fuel price spiral and rising operational costs,” said K Rajavarma Ballal, president of Karnataka State Bus Federation, adding that there’s no justification for the violation.
Though it existed earlier as well, the irregularity has become rampant after the government began dithering on fare revision.
A passenger who paid Rs 800 for a seat in a Volvo bus from Bengaluru to Hyderabad now has to cough up more than double — around Rs 2,000. “Bus operators are being forced to charge more. But passengers are finding the service unaffordable, which has severely impacted the business. Hundreds of buses have been halted,” claimed Suresh Bayar, a city-based travel agent.
In Karnataka, around 3,000 stage carriages operate in 12 districts, including Udupi, Dakshina Kannada and Davanagere. But more than 1,000 buses have stopped plying. Interestingly, there has been no impact on the operation of contract carriages, with only a few of them being off the road.
According to the last fare revision notified in 2013, a bus operator can collect a minimum of Rs 8 for the first 6.6km and 80 paise per km subsequently for an ordinary service. For an express service, the minimum fare is Rs 9 for the first 6.5km and 90 paise per subsequent km.
Transport department sources said the government is dithering on the fare notification because the JD(S)-Congress combine is facing byelections, which will be followed by Lok Sabha polls, and the CM doesn’t want to take chances.