Tamil Nadu - Coimbatore

Consumer body flays ‘unofficial’ bus fare hike

Coimbatore: The Coimbatore Consumer Cause has drawn the attention of the Chief Minister towards the ‘arbitrary’ and ‘unofficial’ bus fare hike imposed by the Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation (TNSTC).

In a memorandum to the Chief Minister, the secretary of CCC, K. Kathirmathiyon, had pointed out that despite compelling reasons and severe financial constraints faced by the TNSTCs, the Chief Minister had assured that the government would not hike bus fare in the larger interest of the people.

But unfortunately, the TNSTC officials were collecting excess bus fare from the people in the recent days by adopting different names for buses and methods and the Regional Transport Authorities are not initiating any action for increasing the bus fare without approval from the competent authorities.

Many ordinary buses were named as ‘Express’ and higher charges were being collected in a number of routes. Further the Coimbatore – Madurai fare was raised by nearly Rs. 6 without any reason recently. In fact, the Coimbatore – Madurai and Coimbatore - Tiruchirapalli fares should have been reduced since the buses were now operated from the new Singanallur bus stand.Many ordinary buses were named as Limited Stop Service and excess fares were being collected. When CCC sought details of LSS and approval for route number 1C and other routes in Coimbatore, the Transport Department officials informed that they had not issued any permit for operation of LSS buses. But practically many buses were being operated in the name of LSS, which stopped at all the bus stops. If any LSS buses were to be operated, it would be welcome. But proper approval should be obtained and details regarding the bus stops where it would not stop should be made known to the Regional Transport Department officials and the public.

Similarly, in the name of ‘Deluxe’ buses, nearly 250 per cent of fare was being collected without permission and all the buses were replacement of old vehicles.

As per the Motor Vehicle Rules, for any category of service, approval had to be obtained from the Regional Transport Authority and only the fares approved by the District Collector had to be collected by the bus operators. Sine Corporations were State owned, officials were reluctant to take action on such “unfair practices”. If the TNSTC wanted to operate such services, they could very well obtain permit and get the fare table approved by the administration before collecting excess fares.

The CCC admitted that TNSTCs and the government were under financial strain because of the increasing operational cost. If that be case, the government should take a decision to revise the bus fares officially. But the present bus fare hikes were contrary to government announcement.

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