In Tamil Nadu, 'ordinary’ govt buses turn ‘special’, surge price on the sly

CHENNAI : It is not just app-based cab aggregators who use surge pricing. In an attempt to boost revenue, government buses in Tamil Nadu have started adopting a similar strategy, forcing passengers to pay one-and-a-half times the normal fare on board ‘special’ buses operated during weekends.

A visit by TOI to the Chennai Mofussil Bus terminus in Koyambedu showed many government buses, which are supposed to be operated with ‘ordinary’ fares, being run as ‘special’ services. Most of these buses are bound for places like Thanjavur, Kumbakonam, Madurai and places in other southern districts, besides popular tourist destinations. Never have such provisions existed in the rule book until government orders were issued in January revising the bus fare structure. The state government seems to have silently brought in this provision, aimed at allowing stateowned transport corporations to boost their crumbling revenue.

And the effect is telling — daily footfall in government buses had come down from 1.82 crore in 2017 to nearly 1.60 crore in March.

Consumer rights activists are fuming. “Though the government order states that only special buses operated during weekends and festivals are allowed to collect one and a half times the normal fare, even ordinary buses have started using this opportunity to collect fares at an increased rate,” said K Kathirmathiyon, an activist who has filed a complaint with the state government in this connection .

Besides, the government has decided to round off the ticket value to the next higher rupee while calculating it based on the number of stages travelled by the passenger.

Prior to the fare revision, fraction of less than 50 paise were ignored in the calculation.

Now, the calculations have changed. For example, for a ticket valued at Rs 5.01, Rs 6 would be charged from the passenger.

When contacted, a state transport department official said it was the government’s policy decision and refused to comment about the rationale behind it.

‘No clarity on accident relief by private buses’

Rules had been amended soon after the new government bus fare structure came into effect in January, allowing private buses (with stage-carrier permits) also to collect insurance and toll cess as a part of the ticket fare from passengers.

Kathirmathiyon questions the need to amend the rules when private buses already have an accident insurance cover without which they cannotobtain or renewtheir registration certificate. “There is no clarity on whether the private bus operator would pay the accident victims (using the cess amount collected) over and above the amount paid by the insurance firm,” he said.