Ludhiana: Private buses ‘fleece’ travellers amid contractual transport staff’s strike

Female passengers relying on govt’s free travel scheme had to wait for hours to catch a few operational buses; the protesters have been demanding regularisation of their services

Passengers at the Ludhiana interstate bus terminal were left at the mercy of private operators on Monday who allegedly inflated the fares on all major routes, exploiting the three-day strike initiated by contractual workers of Punjab Roadways, Punbus and PRTC. Job regularisation is among the demands of the protesters. With state-run buses largely off road, people had no choice but to shell out more money to reach their destinations, travellers said.

Contractual transport workers during a strike at the Ludhiana bus terminal on Monday. (Manish/HT)

Private operators raised fares by ₹15 to ₹20 on key routes, much to the chagrin of travellers. For instance, the Ludhiana-Jalandhar ticket price has gone up from ₹85 to ₹100. Similarly, the fare to Nawanshahr has risen from ₹75 to ₹90 and also the travel to Amritsar is priced at ₹230, up from the usual ₹180.

Notably, the hike in fares hit daily wage earners and low-income travellers the hardest. Rajesh Kumar, a labourer from Samrala, said, “I work as a security guard and travel to Ludhiana daily. Strikes like these make it even harder to make ends meet and provide for our families.”

Meanwhile, a significant number of female passengers, relying on the government’s free travel scheme, were left waiting for hours in the freezing cold, hoping to catch one of the few operational government buses.

Sakshi, a student from Jagraon, highlighted her trouble, asserting, “If the government has provided us with a free travel facility, why shouldn’t we use it? I’ve been waiting for a public bus for the past 40 minutes because the ticket prices of private buses are too high.”

The strike, which caused significant inconvenience to passengers, stems from dissatisfaction among contractual drivers and conductors with the government’s proposed policies for their regularisation.

Union leaders, including Shamsher Singh Dhillon and Jagtar Singh, have accused the government of trying to dismantle transport departments through flawed policies. Their demands include regularisation of employees’ services, equal pay for equal work, elimination of “exploitative” working conditions, induction of new buses and an end to the kilometre scheme that “favours private buses”.

The strike is set to continue on January 7 and 8 with unions planning to take it outside the chief minister’s residence if their demands remain unmet. Leaders have also warned of demonstrations at Aam Aadmi Party convenor Arvind Kejriwal’s residence if necessary.

Commenting on the issue, Navraj Batish, general manager of Punjab Roadways, assured that state buses were still operating on major routes, such as Delhi, Jalandhar, Barnala and Chandigarh on Monday. He acknowledged that the full impact of the strike on revenue loss would only be clear after the evaluation of fare collections.