: Flying squad of the Regional Transport Office (RTO) stopped two omni buses on Avinashi Road for more than two hours on Friday morning for defaulting tax payment.
This left close to 50 passengers of the two buses stranded till alternative arrangements were made for them by the bus operators.
Permit
Flying squad officials said that the buses were among 19 omni buses with registration numbers from other states (Pondicherry, Karnataka and Kerala) which were fined for defaulting tax payment and for violating transport permit conditions.
Seventeen buses paid a fine ranging from Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 3,500 each for violating the tourist permit condition and for operating their buses for regular trips within Tamil Nadu.
But the two omni buses were stopped as they had not paid tax.
One of the buses was heading from Chennai to Calicut with 35 passengers. Close to 15 passengers from the bus were those who were to get down at Coimbatore and made arrangements on their own to reach their destinations.
The 20 others who were heading to Calicut were stranded and fuming. The other was carrying 30 tourists from Chennai to Ooty – as part of a tour to Ooty and Kodaikanal. The buses were stopped around 6 a.m.
Commuters argued with transport officials that they could only check availability of seats in omni buses online and that they could not check if the buses had their permit or paid taxes. RTO personnel advised commuters to approach the consumer court to initiate action against the operators for taking them for a ride.
After making the passengers wait for more than two hours the private bus operators made alternate arrangements to commute their passengers. The buses were allowed to leave the place only after they paid tax of Rs. 24,600 and Rs. 29,700 respectively (tax for one week) around 9 a.m.
Joint Transport Commissioner for Coimbatore Zone P. Muruganantham told The Hindu that RTO officials normally seized original documents of tax defaulting vehicles to avoid passengers getting stranded. But, the vehicles were not allowed to move till they paid tax if the buses did not have original RC book or other original documents.
The senior transport officer said that omni bus operators purposely delayed making an alternative arrangement for commuters, in a bid to turn them against enforcing agency personnel. This was to take away their buses without paying tax.
Mr. Muruganantham said that steps will be taken to ensure that action was initiated against defaulting omni buses without affecting commuters.
