BIJAPUR; 14 April : As the State-wide protest of KSRTC staff continued in Karnataka, the private transport operators continue to take full advantage of the situation by charging exorbitant to the passengers who have no choice but to depend on these private vehicles.
Siddappa Mulage, works for a private company that supplies currency not counting machines and ticket vending machines. He travels everyday from Almel town to Bijapur city to meet customers and resolve their technical issues.
He said that every day he was traveling government buses as he had taken monthly passes. “ After the strike, I am unable to use the pass, at the same time, I have to shell out more money to travel on private buses. I have no option but to travel by private vehicles. Since the town is too far, I can’t travel by motorcycle every day”, he said.
It is not only the plight of people like Mulage but also of the other people, who are working in nearby schools and banks and largely dependent on the government buses for daily travel. In many cases, the people have started using their private vehicles like cars and two-wheelers to reach the office.
Another passenger Sumanth Patil, medical representative, said that, “The private buses are looting since the day one of the strike of drivers and conductors of KSRTC. They are charging double because they know that the people don’t have any other options other than travelling in their buses. The authorities concerned should step-in and fix the bus fares in the view of the public,” urged Patil.
When questioned Narayanappa Kurabar, Division Controller of North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC), he said, “It has come to my notice after the passengers complained about the overcharging by private bus operators. Now, I have brought this to the notice of the Regional Transport Officer, who has the authority to regulate the prices. I have also handed over the bus fare chart to the RTO,” stated DC Kurabar.
The private bus operators denied responding when questioned about charging double to the passengers than the normal bus fare. At present the private buses are being operated to Hubballi, Bagalkot, Jamkhandi, Sindagi and other cities of neighbouring districts.
Anand P, District Regional Transport Officer, said that, “I have already convened a first round of meeting with the private bus operators regarding the bus fare. They have agreed that they will charge similar to that of the tariff of NEKRTC. People are hardly turning up for the bus-stand instead, they are preferring to travel in their own vehicles. We haven’t faced any problems other than tariff issues.”
“On the other hand, if we force the private bus operators to run the buses at nominated bus fare there are high chances that they might withdraw the services, which will cause inconvenience to the public. So, we are managing things in such a way that both bus operators and passengers should be benefited. However, we will keep an eye on the private bus operators. If they found overcharging, we will take action against them,” stated RTO officer Anand.
