Chennai: In an effort to regulate bus fares during Deepavali, All Omni Bus Owners and Operators Association (AOBOOA) has released a fixed tariff to all the destinations in and around the state for various type of buses ranging from non-air conditioned to multi-axle buses with fares starting from Rs 750.
“We have decided to operate 1,200 buses a day during the Deepavali season from October 27 to 31. Normally we operate 600 buses a day,” AOBOOA secretary A. Anbalagan told reporters here. “All the omni buses would be operated via outer ring road from Poonamallee to Vandalur between October 27 and 31. No Omni bus will ply inside the city or through Tambaram and Perungalathur,” he said.
The decision to fix bus fares for Deepavali was taken at a consultation meeting held at the secretariat in the presence of Transport minister and commissioner on October 13. All the members of the associations were asked not to charge more than the fare fixed by it, he said.
As per the fare fixed by the association, a normal non air-conditioned bus ticket for Tiruchy, Thanjavur, Salem, Nagapattinam and Velankanni would cost Rs 750.
For an AC bus, the ticket price will be Rs 935 while non-AC sleeper bus ticket will be Rs 850.
However, the fares fixed by the AOBOOA itself are much higher than normal rates in weekdays or normal weekends. But the omni bus tickets for the Deepavali weekend were being sold at much higher prices. For example, a ticket to Coimbatore, Tiruchy and Madurai are being sold at Rs 2,000 for multi axle buses.
Mr Anbalagan asked the public not to be cheated by middle men and to get ticket directly from the operator itself. The passengers are asked to complain to the 044-32000090 if tickets were sold at higher prices than one fixed by the association.
