Deepavali rush: Private buses already fully booked

BENGALURU: With just a week left for Deepavali, people from Bengaluru are heading to their hometowns to celebrate the festival with their families and enjoy a long weekend. However, they are facing with private buses as most are already fully booked.

Many people have already made up their travel plans for Deepavali. This has resulted in private buses which are leaving on October 31 night from Bengaluru, being fully booked with only a few seats remaining. Additionally, November 1 is Kannada Rajyotsava, followed by the weekend, resulting in long holiday.

Private bus services have only a few seats left, with some having only two, five, three, or one seat available. With the high demand for travel, normally private bus operators take advantage of this festive season and double ticket prices.

Hence, the Transport Department has issued a stern warning to private bus operators and formed special inspection teams to monitor bus services across the state to prevent overcharging of tickets during the festival period.

The Transport Department has announced these measures to ensure commuters are not taken advantage of during the festive season. The department also plans to suspend the registration of buses that hike ticket prices.

Additional Transport Commissioner Mallikarjun has warned private bus owners not to increase fares and said they will conduct meetings to ensure compliance. The department will inspect buses across the state from Tuesday night until the holiday and cancel the registration of buses that increase fares, he warned.