High Court directions and a State government advisory do not seem to have come to the rescue of passengers, who complained that bus operators continued to fleece them.
S. Ramesh, a native of Tiruchi, said that as the festival weekend began, the fares in omni buses had become exorbitant.
He said the cost of a ticket for an air conditioned omni bus from the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus in Koyambedu to Tiruchi started from Rs. 800 against the Rs. 250 fixed for government buses. Another commuter, R. Mukundan, said that the websites of several omni bus operators showed the price for tickets to Tiruchi and Madurai as Rs.1,500 and Rs. 1,800 respectively. He said that private operators were not charging fixed fares, forcing commuters to pay through the nose.
T. Sadagopan, a consumer activist from Pattabhiram, said the lack of transparency in fixing prices by private bus operators was an indicator of the inability of the State Transport Department to rein in the operators. Comparing the huge difference in ticket fares of government buses and omni buses, he said private operators were engaged in unfair trade practices.
A senior official of the State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) said that 3,976 buses were being operated from the five bus termini in the city to various destinations carrying around 1.5 lakh commuters. Around 1.85 lakh commuters travelled in the buses from the city on Thursday, he added. However, commuters pointed out that from Sunday, the transport corporation should make similar arrangements for those who wished to return to the city.
Nearly 3,800 SETC buses were operated from the five bus termini in the city to various destinations
