Omnibus owners releases revised fare chart: Details here

CHENNAI: After passengers complained of exorbitant fares in omnibuses, All Omni Bus Owners Association (AOBOA) and Tamil Nadu Omni Bus Owners Association have released a revised fare chart after reducing the fares by 10-20 per cent.

The fare chart was handed over to the Transport Commissioner on Friday two days after Transport Minister requested the bus owners to reduce the fares. On September 21, the omnibus owners released a fare chart for various routes across the State for various types of buses but the passengers found the fare very high.

As per the new fare chart, the buses will charge Rs 1,776 to Rs 2,688 for travelling between Chennai and Madurai depending type of bus (non-AC/AC/seater/sleepers etc). Earlier, it ranged between Rs 1,930 and Rs 3,070. While the fare between Chennai and Coimbatore will cost Rs 1,815 to Rs 3,025 compared to the previous fare of Rs 2,050 to Rs 3,310)

AOBOA president A Anbalagan said that the bus fares have been reduced up to 20 per cent following the meeting with the transport minister on September 28. “We handed over the revised fare chart to the Transport Commissioner, ” he said, adding that government can’t fix fares for omnibuses which operate under the contract carriage permit. “We have fixed maximum bus fares for various routes and various types of buses for the passengers' convenience,” he said.

Transport Minister SS Sivasankar had told reporters that once the omnibus owners association releases the fare chart, they would take action against the bus owners who collect excess fares on the passengers' complaints.