Advance booking of bus tickets for the Dashain festival is scheduled to open from Thursday, according to the operators.

A meeting between the Department of Transport Management (DoTM), the Federation of Nepalese National Transport Entrepreneurs (FNNTE), traffic police and representatives of the Consumers’ Welfare Protection Forum on Friday decided to open advanced booking of bus tickets starting Thursday. Advanced ticket booking makes it easier for people travelling out of Kathmandu to celebrate Dashain with their families.

The 10-day festival commences this year on September 21.

The decision to open advanced ticket booking was taken after the DoTM and the FNNTE sorted out some outstanding issues like carries on the roofs of the vehicles among others.

Carriers from the roofs of the buses were removed earlier as per a government decision, but transport operators had taken exception to the move saying it would create difficulty for passengers as well as vehicle operators as it was not possible to adjust people and luggage inside vehicles.

FNTTE officials said the DoTM now has agreed to let the vehicles carry luggage on the roofs. However, passengers would not be allowed to sit on the roofs.

During the rush season, people often tend to travel on the roofs of long-route buses.

Rup Narayan Bhattarai, director general of the DoTM, said his office has given permission to the traffic police to confiscate documents of vehicles that are found carrying people on the roofs.

“We are ready to comply with the DoTM’s directives,” said Saroj Sitaula, general secretary of the FNNTE.

The DoTM and transport operators, however, are yet to reach a decision on fares. “We will finalise fares during Monday’s meeting,” said Sitaula.

Last year, around 2.5 million people had left the Valley during the Dashain festival.