Bus pass blues: Seva Sindhu glitches hit lakhs of students

Ballari: Technical glitches on the Seva Sindhu portal have left lakhs of students across North Western Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NWKRTC) and North Eastern Karnataka Road Transport Corporation (NEKRTC) regions struggling to secure the state’s free student bus passes, forcing many to spend on daily travel weeks after the academic year began.The free bus pass scheme for all male students is expected to cost the govt around Rs 1,700 crore annually and benefit over 10 lakh students. More than four lakh beneficiaries are expected under NWKRTC and NEKRTC, with each corporation covering over two lakh students.Current bus pass rates range between Rs 300 and Rs 1,200. The pass enables unlimited travel between a student’s residence and institution on an approved route for a one-way distance of up to 60 km and includes accident insurance, said G B Manjunath, divisional controller, KKRTC, Yadgir.Students travelling from villages must apply through the Seva Sindhu portal via mobile phones, cyber centres, Bengaluru One, Karnataka One or Grama One centres.NWKRTC managing director Priyanga M said the corporation issued 1.8 lakh passes to male students last year and expects a 2-3% increase this year. Belagavi (including Chikkodi) accounted for 55,000-60,000 passes, Dharwad-Gadag 45,000-50,000, Bagalkot-Haveri 35,000-40,000 and Uttara Kannada 15,000-18,000.

NEKRTC issued over 1.5 lakh passes last year, including 40,000-45,000 in Kalaburagi-Yadgir, 35,000-38,000 in Raichur-Koppal, 30,000-35,000 in Ballari-Vijayanagara and 20,000-25,000 in Bidar.However, login failures, delayed OTPs, document upload errors and server issues, along with glitches in selecting boarding points, have left many applications incomplete. Students, particularly in rural areas, are making repeated trips to service centres and waiting for hours, often returning empty-handed.The delays have slowed pass distribution. In Ballari district, where 15,500 passes were issued in 2025, only around 2,500 students have received them so far this year. Similar issues are reported across Kalyana Karnataka and Kittur Karnataka.Chandrasekhar, divisional controller, KKRTC Ballari, said distribution is under way and initial server issues have been addressed. G B Manjunath added that reopening of institutions triggered a surge in applications, slowing both pass distribution and refunds. “Once issues are resolved, distribution will pick up,” he said.Officials across districts have offered similar assurances, but nearly a month after reopening, many students still await their passes, prompting parents to demand immediate fixes to the portal.