Bengaluru: As the competition is hotting up, bus and cab service providers are encouraging online payments from their customers to improve their revenue collection and to plug leakage. They offer discounts and promo codes to those who make online payments. But the state-owned KSRTC, seemingly stuck in a time warp, wants its customers to still pay for reservation charges, taxes and other add-ons for booking tickets online.
Regular KSRTC travellers complained that while majority of private bus operators offer 5-10% discount for online booking and cash back options, KSRTC continues to charge Rs 10 as reservation charge, Rs 6 as user fee and 15% as service charge.
Regular travellers said that except KSRTC, all major bus service providers are attracting customers with concessions and promotions. “Many long-distance bus service providers offer 10% concession for booking tickets online on their websites, while other payment gateways offer discounts too. Private operators also allow for e-wallet payments. But KSRTC is not doing enough to make online booking popular,” said Mr Ramabhat, a regular passenger between Bengaluru and Sirsi.
Mr Suman Hegade, another regular passenger between Dhaward and Bengaluru said that KSRTC should change with the times. “Advance booking charges have become irrelevant in these highly competitive times,” he said.
A KSRTC officer said that compared to any other bus service, KSRTC still offers the cheapest fares. “We have the most secure online system. We cannot compromise on our rules just to compete with private players,” he said.
