After an inspection by transport department officials, a few Omni buses which charged excess fares were made to return Rs 9,200 to nine passengers.
The private-run Omni buses in Tamil Nadu have raised ticket prices considerably, citing heightened demand during the Christmas and New Year holidays. The average price of tickets for an intra-state trip between places like Madurai, Coimbatore, Trichy and Chennai have been soaring close to Rs 2,000 between December 31, 2022 and January 2, 2023. The heightened fares are two to three times higher than the regular fare in several routes.
Following several complaints from commuters, special teams were formed to look into the situation under the supervision of Joint Transport Commissioner for Chennai North, A Ravichandran. The teams analysed the prices that Omni buses charged on December 23, and focused mainly on the buses departing from and arriving at Chennai’s Koyambedu and Porur bus stands.
Following the probe into the fare hike, a total fine of Rs 92,500 was collected from 49 Omni buses. Further, a few Omni buses which charged excess fares were made to return Rs 9,200 to nine passengers. The special group’s inspection is expected to continue till January 2, 2023.
Such steep hikes in ticket fares for the Omni buses have become increasingly common during festival seasons. While the state government in the past has issued directions to Omni bus operators to decide on standard ticket rates, Tamil Nadu Transport Minister SS Sivasankar had previously said that the government cannot fix the rates for the private-run buses.
Source: The News Minute