CHENNAI: At least 600 inter-state omni buses were cancelled on Monday, after the Omni Bus Owners’ Associations of Tamil Nadu, Kerala, Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Puducherry suspended services protesting the imposition of steep road taxes in these states.
Although omnibus buses operating within TN ran without disruption, commuters who had reserved tickets to destinations, including Ernakulam, Bengaluru, Hyderabad and other cities, faced severe hardship.
A group of omnibus owners met Transport Minister S S Sivasankar in Ariyalur on Monday, seeking his intervention to waive road taxes imposed on omni buses registered in other states when they pass through TN. They said the move would enable a similar exemption to TN-registered vehicles operating in other states.
“As an immediate relief, we have requested the minister to direct TN transport authorities not to collect road taxes from omni buses that possess All India Permits but are registered in other states,” A Anbalagan, president of the All Omni Bus Owners’ Association (AOBOA), told TNIE.
No demand surge for train tickets to other south states: Rly officials
He further added that paying road taxes in multiple states would make the industry financially unviable. “Bus operators will meet transport department officials in Chennai on Tuesday to press our demands. Until a decision is taken by the government, the inter-state services will remain suspended,” he said. Despite the suspension, there was no noticeable surge in demand for tickets on inter-state services operated by the State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) to Kerala and Karnataka.
Similarly, railway officials too maintained that there was no significant spike in the ticket demand to Bengaluru, Mysuru, Thiruvananthapuram and other destinations. S Devarajan, a commuter who had booked a ticket to Bengaluru, said, “Initially, I was told that Karnataka-registered omni buses would be operated as usual from the Chennai Mofussil Bus Terminus, but all services were later cancelled. I had no choice but to switch to an SETC bus.”
Officials from the SETC maintained that SETC’s inter-state services to Ernakulam, Thiruvananthapuram, Bengaluru and other destinations have sufficient unfilled seats. The Sabarimala pilgrimage season begins on November 16, during which SETC will operate special buses to Kerala as usual. “Special Sabarimala services will be adjusted based on demand,” another official added.
Southern Railway officials also noted that ticket demand to Bengaluru, Mysuru, Thiruvananthapuram and other destinations in Kerala remains steady. “There has been no sudden spike in bookings. Special trains for the Sabarimala season will be announced depending on demand,” they said.
Omni bus operators from Kerala, AP, Karnataka and Puducherry have also suspended inter-state operations to protest the imposition of road taxes on vehicles not registered within a particular state. In recent days, TN transport authorities levied taxes on All India Permit buses registered in Kerala and other states when they entered TN.
