With Diwali as well as Chhath approaching, private buses operators for long distance are facing allegations of charging passengers two to three times the usual fares. Despite the operation of special trains by the South East Central Railway and other zones, most passengers are struggling significantly to secure confirmed tickets in the reserved compartments of various trains. In such a situation, private buses remain the only viable option for reaching their hometowns. Taking advantage of this situation, many private bus operators have increased fares, placing an additional financial burden on passengers. Many of the passengers especially of low-wage workers are suffering a lot and many of them have cancelled their holiday’s trips at native places in Diwali and Chhath festivals.

 

“People work hard throughout the year in major areas of Chhattisgarh such as Raipur, Durg, Bilaspur and Korba and hope to spend a few happy moments with their families during Diwali and Chhath. Many of the private bus operators have increased the fares from 1500 rupees to 3000 or 3500 rupees and in this condition, many of them have skipped their festival plans in native places” pointed Rajnesh Mishra, Vice President of Chhattisgarh-Bihari Association. Interestingly, most of these private bus operators have no fear of any action being taken against them and they are randomly hiking fares for travel to districts in different states such as Jharkhand, Bihar, Uttar Pradesh and Madhya Pradesh. Meanwhile, after getting complaints of passengers, the Chhattisgarh Transport Department have instructed officers of RTOs in all of the district to conduct surprise inspection drive and would take action against bus operators who are engaged in this kind of malpractice. RTO officials stated that bus operators are not allowed to charge high fares and they are also needed to display fare charts inside their vehicles. In fact, they warned that action would be taken against operators found charging passengers more than the permitted ones.