Omnibus operators fleece passengers during Pongal rush; govt helplines say call after sometime
According to many passengers who tried to return to Chennai, several operators are charging fares much higher than the upper limit set by the Omnibus Owners' Association
Arterial roads that lead to Chennai are chock-a-block on Saturday night as a large number of revellers returned after the long Pongal break (Photo: Sam Augustine)
CHENNAI: Festival-time fleecing was in full flow in Tamil Nadu, as the omnibus operators continued exploiting the Pongal rush and steeply increased the fares this year. Meanwhile, the helplines the State government had set specifically to address the situation did not accept calls.
According to many passengers who tried to return to Chennai, several operators are charging fares much higher than the upper limit set by the Omnibus Owners' Association. For instance, a single ticket to Chennai was being sold for Rs 3,899 from Nagercoil, Rs 3,950 from Madurai, Rs 3,850 from Nagercoil, and Rs 5,000 from Coimbatore. Normally, these fares are in the range of Rs 1,500 to Rs 2,500 for AC sleepers. The tickets on non-AC and premium-class buses are also being sold at similarly high fares.
Earlier, Transport Minister SS Sivasankar had said passengers may complain against omnibuses on toll-free numbers: 1800 425 6151, 044-24749002, 044-26280445, 044-26281611.
However, when this correspondent called, the calls to 1800 425 6151 and 044-24749002 set up by the department said, “The subscriber you dialled is not accepting the call. Please dial after some time.” The calls made to the other two landline numbers, which belong to the bus owners’ association went unanswered.
Efforts to contact Transport Commissioner Shunchonngam Jatak Chiru proved futile.
The maximum fare fixed for Coimbatore to Chennai on a premium AC sleeper bus is Rs 2,870. But one of the operators is collecting Rs 5,000 for a multi-axle AC bus. For a journey from Madurai to Chennai, the association had a fixed maximum fare of Rs 2,550 for a Volvo AC sleeper, but operators are charging as high as Rs 3,899 for an AC sleeper.
S Kannan, a native of Salem, said he opted to travel by non-AC ultra-deluxe SETC bus to Chennai after failing to get Tatkal train tickets and high fares charged by omnibuses.
“I always prefer to travel by train to Salem from Chennai and vice versa. For this Pongal, we extended our stay till January 19 due to a family function. As I could not get tatkal train tickets for my family of three, I thought of travelling by AC sleeper omnibus. But the fares were too high, with each ticket costing over Rs 2,000. So I booked three tickets on SETC ultra-deluxe bus to Chennai, each costing about Rs 1,000,” he said.
