Private buses hike ticket rates to Kerala for Christmas-New Year travel season

The private buses of other states have hiked the ticket prices to Kerala for the Christmas and New Year season this year. The ticket almost costs around Rs 6000 to travel to Kerala.

Bengaluru: For Malayalees who are preparing to travel home for Christmas vacation from nearby states, private buses have increased their tickets by more than twice as much. The cost of a ticket to go home from nearby states is as much as Rs 6,000 tomorrow and the following day. Mercedes-Benz multi-axle AC sleeper bus fares are Rs 3,390 if the tickets are booked online today to travel from Bengaluru to Kochi. Other buses charge between Rs 2000 and Rs 3000.

However, tomorrow that will be Rs 6000, a difference of double the amount. Tickets from Chennai to Kochi cost around Rs 4900. The fare for non-AC seater buses is up to Rs.2840.

Rijas, a representative of the Luxury Bus Owners Association, said that this squeeze of passengers is overriding the organizational decision of buses operating inter-state services.

At present, there is no unified system or government intervention to fix fares for inter-state bus services. Hence buses are busy during all the festive seasons. Earlier booking was done through agencies. With the activation of online booking, the rate will increase again, including the service charge. Rs 2800, Rs 3300 and Rs 3600 will be charged on KSRTC's Chennai- Kochi route from tomorrow. Despite the increase in traffic, Southern Railway has not announced any special services this time. Flight tickets are also expensive.