CHENNAI: Omnibus fares have been increased manifold for this weekend much to the anguish of passengers with the suspension of the other state-registered buses in the state.
As many as 800 other state-registered omnibuses have been banned in the state by the Transport Commissioner, the number of omnibuses plying in the state has come down to around 1500 driving up the fares.
Fares of omnibuses operated from Chennai to Madurai, Coimbatore, Tirunelveli and other parts of the state have been increased by Rs 1,000-1,200 to over Rs 2,000 per ticket. The increase in bus fares has upset the passengers. Passengers have demanded the government to operate additional buses from the city in the wake of restrictions on the operation of the omnibuses.
All Omni Bus Owners Association president A Anbalagan alleged that the Transport Department is trying to confiscate the omni buses, which are parked at Koyambedu.
“The officials came to confiscate the buses which were parked at Koyambedu station. We argued with them and stopped them from confiscating the buses. But, in Ooty, the officials seized two parked omni buses,” he said. He also alleged that when they went to apply for re-registration at the Transport Commissioner Officer, they refused to receive the applications.
Meanwhile, Transport authorities detained three omnibuses in Coimbatore with Nagaland registration due to non-compliance with the June 17 deadline announced by the state government to re-register their vehicles. Inspecting teams found that these vehicles had misused the All India Tourist Permit, meant for bulk bookings by tourists and events, for transporting passengers.
Commissioner Shanmugha Sundaram had said that despite the extension of time provided to the other state-registered omnibuses to re-register their vehicles in the state, only 105 out of the 905 omnibuses have registered with the local Regional Transport Offices (RTOs) and 800 omnibuses continuing their operation as unauthorised stage carriers. He said that the illegal operation of the omnibuses caused a revenue loss of Rs 34.56 crore a year.