Festival time fleecing on, private buses in TN charge 40% more
Omnibus operators charge much more than fare cap; All Omni Bus Owners’ Association itself seeks action
Representative Image
CHENNAI: This is a fleecing that by now is all too familiar during festival time. A family of four heading to Coimbatore to celebrate Deepavali in their native will have to shell out a whopping Rs 27,192 on AC bus fare alone, as omnibus operators have disregarded the fare cap that their association itself has fixed.
An analysis of bus ticket prices from Chennai to some of the major cities in Tamil Nadu shows that the average ticket prices are 15 per cent to 38 per cent more than the maximum fares committed by the All Omni Bus Owners’ Association.
Also Read: Cancellations by Southern Railway force public to spend 3X for train ticket
The worst is on the Chennai-Coimbatore route where an AC sleeper bus ticket is priced as high as Rs 3,399 on Wednesday, the eve of Deepavali as against the capped fare of Rs 2,460 fixed by the bus operators’ association. Non-AC tickets are being sold at Rs 2,000, while the maximum fare fixed is Rs 1,720.
Similarly, fares to Madurai, Thoothukudi, Tirunelveli, Nagercoil and other important routes from Chennai have skyrocketed, with the surge ranging from 15 per cent to 28 per cent.
Ticket prices have shot up with demand, as the Deepavali has become an extended weekend for most people. As the festival falls on Thursday, many take leave on Friday and return only on Sunday night or Monday morning.
When asked, All Omni Bus Owners’ Association president A Anbalagan said operators plying to Kerala and Nagercoil were charging the same fares from passengers travelling to Tiruchy, Coimbatore, Madurai, and other places. “Whenever we receive a complaint on fares, we call the operators to make them reduce the fares,” he said, adding that the association has also asked the Transport Commissioner to take action against the operators collecting ticket fares higher than the maximum fare fixed by them.
A senior Transport Department official said special teams were formed to conduct special checks during the festival season and that action would be taken against operators collecting fares that are more than what the association fixed. “We will ask the operator to refund the excess fares to the passengers,” the official added.