People who are planning to travel by private buses on the eve of Election Day (May 10) to cast their votes have to pay hefty fares. Ticket booking sites are showing higher fares for those who are trying to book tickets on May 9.
For example, the Bengaluru–Mangaluru ticket fare ranges from ₹1,500 to ₹2,000 per seat, ₹1,200 to ₹2,000 for Belagavi, ₹1,400 to ₹1,800 to Hubballi, ₹2,000 to ₹2,700 to Kalaburagi, and ₹1,200 to ₹1,900 for Udupi.
A private bus operator said, “Anticipating a higher demand, some agents might have pre-booked tickets. This usually results in ticket booking sites showing higher fares for travel. This time during elections, there is moderate demand for bus service as the Election Commission has fixed the election date in the middle of the week. From cities like Bengaluru, some organisations had booked entire buses to ferry passengers. We do not know whether they are affiliated to political parties or not. In the previous elections, political parties were luring voters by providing travel expenses, but this time the trend has changed.”
