It may be one transport corporation. But the fares collected by the Karnataka State Transport Corporation (KSRTC) between the same destinations vary from bus to bus (of the same category).
Zaimul Adideen, a resident of Mangaluru, who travels frequently to neighbouring towns on business, has raised a voice against such anomalies, even as hundreds of commuters silently pay up the fares.
Mr. Abideen, presenting his case, brought out the anomalies in fares between Mangaluru and Sullia. While he paid Rs. 89 on October 20 on an express service operated by the KSRTC’s Chamarajanagar Division, he had to pay Rs. 90 on November 3 on another express service operated by the Mangalore Division. On his journey from Mangaluru to Belthangady on November 4, he had to pay Rs. 55, while he claimed he had paid Rs. 52 for the same journey last week. However, he did not have last week’s ticket with him to prove his point.
When The Hindu did a reality check on KSRTC’s website — www.ksrtc.in — it was found that fare differences were not confined to express services alone. For instance, on Rajahamsa services, the fares between Mangaluru and Sullia ranged from Rs. 125 to Rs. 137 on buses leaving at different points in a day. Similar variations, ranging from Re. 1 to Rs. 5 were seen between different destinations across the State.
KSRTC’s Mangalore Divisional Controller Kempananjaiah said he would look into the matter.
Another senior official said the differences could be due to buses belonging to different divisions.
Mr. Abideen told The Hindu that the ready answer by conductors concerned was: the buses belong to different depots/divisions.
Depots or divisions are creations of the KSRTC for its operational convenience; why should there be differences in fares on the same category of services in the same destinations, he asked. Apart from differences in fares, what has irked Mr. Abideen is the attitude of the KSRTC crew. Though the corporation claims that the crew have become more customer-friendly, the conductors do not entertain his questions on difference in fares, he said. Besides, the crew, particularly on the Mangaluru-Chikkamagaluru sector, accord least priority to passenger safety and are only keen on keeping to time, he alleged.
