Transport Department penalized Private Omni buses for Tax Violations

The State Transport Department of Chennai has taken action against private Omni buses for overcharging the fare for the first time in recent years. They refunded the excess fare to most of the concerned passengers.

In the festive season, private omni buses again increased the fares from Chennai to other parts of the state by around 50% of regular fares. For example, traveling from Chennai to Madurai costs up to ₹2,500 per head.

Earlier the government had said that it is not in a position to fix fares for these private omni buses. So, those buses which were left from Koyambedu bus terminus late in the evening, charged even more as demand escalated.

On the basis of many complaints on helpline numbers and on social media sites, the state transport department formed special teams for this case and registered cases against 1,715 buses and seized 112 buses.

Transport officials said that most of them had not paid taxes on time. So, the government levied extra fines against them and in the last three days transport department managed to collect over ₹31.8 lakh from the offenders.

Apart from this, the owners of the 112 seized vehicles refunded the ticket amount to passengers who had booked tickets with their travel firms. In some of the cases, the excess fare was also paid back to passengers.

According to official data, the government on its behalf had managed additional special buses to clear the rush at Koyambedu and other bus terminal in Chennai. Till Sunday morning, over three lakh passengers had left the city in 5,660 buses.