Bus ticket printing biz in Bengal hit hard amid lockdown

The temporary suspension of private bus services amid the lockdown had not just hit hard the vehicle operators and their employees, but also all ancillary businesses, including the presses that print tickets for collection of fares.

Bhaskar Maity, the owner of a small-scale printing press here that churns out bus tickets, said his business, which had gone down to zero during the lockdown, did not pick up much even after the resumption of services in early June.

"With many buses still not back on the streets, business has been a trickle of what it used to be during normal times," Maity claimed.

"A set of one lakh tickets are sold for Rs 1,500. On an average, a press prints around 25 to 26 lakh tickets in a month, catering to around 250 buses," he said.

Another such printing press owner in the city, Arunesh Bose, said he used to sell tickets worth around Rs 40,000 every month before the COVID-19 outbreak, with an average profit of around Rs 15,000. Staff salary also adds to the expenses, he said.

Maity explained that just about two to three lakh tickets were manufactured last month in his press, thus making it difficult for him to make ends meet.

Managing family expenses is getting increasingly difficult in the midst of this crisis, he lamented. Bose, however, expressed hope that business will be better in the coming days, with more private buses now getting back on the roads in the city and districts. Several private bus operators had stayed off the streets last month, demanding a fare hike due to high fuel prices and Covid-related curbs on passenger load. A section of operators, following a meeting with the transport secretary on Wednesday, had given assurances that more buses will be pressed into service.