Transport Minister S.S. Sivasankar said on Saturday that only those omni buses that were registered in other States and breached the All India Tourist Permit Rules were being impounded in Tamil Nadu.
Omni buses with All India Tourist Permits registered in other States but operating in Tamil Nadu violated norms, causing the State a loss of ₹4.32 lakh per bus annually, the Minister said in a statement. He pointed out that 1,535 omni buses registered in Tamil Nadu were operating without issues.
He said buses registered in States such as Karnataka, Kerala, Andhra Pradesh, and Puducherry operated in Tamil Nadu without plying to their respective States and did not pay taxes to Tamil Nadu, thereby violating the norms. These buses also operated to other States through Tamil Nadu. They boarded and dropped passengers in Tamil Nadu in violation of the norms, he added. The Minister said the buses registered in Nagaland and other States had obtained All India Permits by producing fake documents and were operating in Tamil Nadu illegally. Of the 905 omni buses that had violated the norms, only 112 cancelled their registration and re-registered in Tamil Nadu. The rest were still operating illegally, destabilising the operations of the State Transport Corporations and other omni bus operators who followed the rules, he said.
These buses were designed in violation of the All India Bus Body Code, and there was a possibility of passengers not getting compensated in case of accidents, Mr. Sivasankar said. “Therefore, illegal operation of omni buses would not be allowed any more. The State government has decided to take criminal action against such operators,” he added.
It was announced that from June 18, the omni buses that violated the norms would be detained. Sixty-two buses had so far been detained across the State, the Minister said.
Mr. Sivasankar said members of the Omni bus Operators’ Association met him and the Transport Commissioner, and assured the government of their cooperation. They said steps had been taken to re-register over 200 buses and the operation of all buses would be regularised.
