CHENNAI: Even as demand for omni bus tickets surges during weekends and festival holidays, nearly 300 new buses are awaiting permit from the state transport department, with operators alleging applications have been pending for over a month despite completion of the registration process.
A Anbalagan, president of All Omni Bus Owners Association (AOBOA), said the Commissionerate of Transport and Road Safety had recently introduced an online system for processing permit applications and initially cleared around 270 applications on a priority basis. However, nearly 300 applications submitted subsequently have been pending for more than a month, he said.
Anbalagan said around 270 buses among those awaiting approval had already been registered, with their owners paying about Rs 1.5 lakh each as quarterly road tax, but could not be operated as the final permit approval was yet to be issued. “The delay is causing financial loss to operators and also affecting passengers,” he said.
When contacted, Transport Commissioner Sigy Thomas Vaidhyan said steps are being taken to clear the pending applications. She said a large number of applications had accumulated and are being processed.
The delay also figured during a meeting convened by the commissionerate on September 4 to discuss the operation of omni buses within Chennai city limits, during which several operators whose applications are pending staged a protest.
Meanwhile, in a recent letter to Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay, the association said the state could earn around Rs 15 lakh in revenue from each omni bus registered in TN.
According to the association, over 6,000 omni buses cater to more than 2.5 lakh passengers across Tamil Nadu daily.