Rs 15-20 user fee: KSRTC bus fares go up

Commuter travelling between Bengaluru and Mysuru on state-run buses shall have to pay more from now on as the Karnataka State Road Transport Corporation (KSRTC) decided to pass on the user fee for Expressway to passengers. The decision to raise the bus fares comes immediately after National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) began collecting tolls on a part of the newly inaugurated Bengaluru-Mysuru expressway.

The hike is applicable to all buses including EV and Volvo buses.

The corporation will levy a user fee of Rs 15 on every passenger travelling on Karnataka Sarige buses, Rs 18 on Rajahamsa buses and Rs 20 on other/multi-axle buses.

According to reports, private bus operators also planning for a similar hike.

On Tuesday, Congress and pro-Kannada organizations staged protest against the 'high rate of toll' levied on motorists using the expressway. They also expressed reservations regarding service roads not being built, and the toll rate fixed being too high.

Amid heavy presence of police personnel, protesters shouted slogans demanding justice and also criticised the government, while some even threatened to destroy the toll plaza altogether. Several protesters were detained by the police.

Being the first day of toll collection, some technical glitches also added to the chaos, making commuters wait for a long time, due to congestion.

Many cab drivers, who commute on the stretch daily, hit out at NHAI authorities for mismanagement, charging high toll fees for short distances, and no proper service road.

On March 12, Prime Minister Modi inaugurated the 118-km Bengaluru-Mysuru Expressway project here. It will reduce the travel time between Bengaluru and Mysuru from around three hours to about 75 minutes, according to officials.

The Rs 8,480 crore project involved six-laning of the Bengaluru-Nidaghatta-Mysuru section of NH-275, and will act as a catalyst for socio-economic development in the region, they said.