Vanishing bus tickets

Racketeers have started their business of mopping up tickets early in the day taking advantage of the heavy rain which is keeping the intending passengers from the inter-district bus counters. Needless to say, brokers are collecting the tickets to sell them at a much higher price -- often three times the normal fare. They have already bought off thousands of tickets, thereby taking a near-monopoly hold of the market and forcing the passengers to be at their mercy.

Things must have gone wrong at more than one point. There is clearly a nexus between the transport workers and the racketeers, and a deep-rooted connivance between these syndicates and the powers that be, for there is little doubt that without the nod or abatement from local powerful groups, with some political clout, the whole business could not have thrived.

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This is totally unacceptable. The government has to do something to streamline the ticketing business that cheats millions of people.

The transport operators are charging much higher fares than allowable at the rate of 80 paisa per kilometer they had agreed to apply in an understanding with the government. They may not be happy with the rate, but they cannot cash in on the plight of passengers prior to a major festival. This is another example of organised profiteering in a high demand perspective that is highly condemnable.

The government should take note of what is happening and adopt such measures as will ensure a steady flow of bus tickets and at affordable fares. It's more than a question of enforcing law, it's a question of protecting the huge number of people from being fleeced.