Passengers returning to Chennai on Tuesday after the Pooja holidays heaved a sigh of relief as private omni bus operators withdrew their strike call at the last-minute following talks with the state government authorities.
Tamil Nadu transport department in its recent crackdown against private omni buses for overcharging had penalised more than 2,000 bus owners and detained 120 vehicles for tax violations.
Such actions during late hours put passenger safety at stake and arranging alternative vehicles to continue their journey would be difficult, said Thirugnanam of All Omni Bus Owners Association (AOBOA), a collective that had threatened to boycott services.
Meanwhile, another section of omni bus owners clarified that they would not participate in the strike and 80% of buses associated with Tamil Nadu Omni Bus Operators’ Association would continue to ferry passengers.
However, as the news of strike began to spread, transport authorities met bus owners in the afternoon and agreed to their demands pertaining to avoid late-night checks and detaining vehicles outside Chennai. Subsequently, they withdrew the strike and buses ferried passengers as scheduled.
State transport minister S S Sivasankar said that even if enough buses were not available, additional government buses had been kept ready to help passengers at Madurai, Trichy, Coimbatore and Salem to return to Chennai on Wednesday.
Asked about reports of passengers being fleeced, Thirugnanam from AOBOA said that the government had not fixed any fare for them, and that they were collecting extra fare for only 20 days in a year to sustain business operations. “The public too can’t expect us to collect the same amount which the government collects. Travelling in an air-conditioned multi-axle sleeper bus will obviously cost more,” he said.
The association is soon planning to release its own fare chart ahead of Diwali to avoid such confusions in the future. Accordingly, one-way travel from Chennai to Madurai could cost 1,930 to 3,070 this Diwali. Similarly, travelling to Trichy and Coimbatore will cost 1,610-2,430 and 2,050-3,310.
“It is very expensive, and the government should not allow the private bus operators to exploit passengers like this,” said T Sadagopan, a transportation activist.
