Call for a watchdog to rein in omni buses that fleece passengers during festival season

Passengers call for govt body to regulate private buses; exorbitant fares charged during festivals. I. Sivalingam, a passenger, says no option but to pay more if seeking seats at last minute. Travel agencies & apps have limited options of affordable fare. All-Omni Bus Owners Association has released fixed fare list; action taken against operators collecting more. TNSTC-Madurai branch announced additional bus services; passengers can lodge complaints on 93848 08393.

With omni buses charging exorbitant fares during festival seasons and long weekends becoming a routine affair, passengers call for a separate government body to monitor and regulate private buses, particularly during festival seasons.  

In the last few times, even when the omni bus association issued a fixed set of fares to be collected from passengers, the bus operators continued their practice of increasing the fare based on crowd and demand.  

I. Sivalingam, a passenger from Coimbatore, said that unless the passengers have a booked ticket, they would be forced by the bus operators to pay more if they walk to the bus stand seeking seats or berths. “Passengers have no option other than to pay through their nose when they come to the bus stand at the last minute,” he said.  

Mr. Sivalingam, who works in a pharmaceutical company in Madurai, like any other people going home, need to book the bus ticket at least a week in advance to avoid paying an exorbitant fare. “Travel agencies and mobile booking applications also have only limited option of buses with affordable fare while the rest exceeds the fixed rate,” he said. 

This could not be questioned by anyone, so passengers instead prefer to book tickets at the earliest, he added. “Even now I have booked two non-A/C sleeper tickets for ₹3,500 while the stipulated fare for Madurai-Coimbatore sector is only ₹1,070,” he added.  

However, All-Omni Bus Owners Association has released a fixed fare list to be followed by the omni buses throughout the State. “Action will be taken against bus operators who collect more than the fixed fare,” said A. Alagappan, its State president.  

Further, people could refer to the bus fare fixed by the association on their website – www.aoboa.co.in - and if they were charged any additional fare, they could call 90433 79664 to register their complaints.