Bus fares in southern India doubled due to Makar Sankranti travel rush

With Makar Sankranti festival just around the corner, there has been a travel rush in the southern part of the country, which in turn has encouraged the private travel operators to double the bus fares across different cities in southern India.
As the three-day festival will start off on Sunday, those settled in cities like Hyderabad, Bangalore and Chennai are looking to travel to their native places for celebrating the festival with their near and dear ones. This in turn has increased the demand of bus tickets, which is thus being capitalised as an opportunity to earn the extra buck among most private travel operators in the region.

It is not only the bus fares that have increased, but even the cab charges have been affected because of this sudden increase in the number of travellers. The overcharging has gone to such an extent that the cost of a luxury bus ticket from Hyderabad to Vijayawada sold online was INR 1,000, as compared to the normal fare of INR 350 charged in other times.

According to some personal experiences of travellers, most of the private tour operators have discontinued their regular services and have instead announced special services with hiked prices in order to cater to the increased demand these days.

Scheduled to take place this year on January 14, Makar Sankranti is a festival which is celebrated with a lot of zest and enthusiasm in several parts of the country, with Andhra Pradesh and a few southern states being the ones where it is observed most prominently.