Tamil Nadu: Travel by AC buses may cost Rs 50-Rs 150 more this summer

CHENNAI: Get ready to pay 50 to 150 more for every ticket in government A/C and semi-sleeper buses even during weekdays as State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) has done away with the 'lean fare system' for the entire summer vacation.
Taking a cue from private omni bus operators, the SETC, one of the eight state-owned transport corporations operating long-distance buses from Chennai to Coimbatore, Madurai, Bengaluru and other neighbouring states, introduced a flexi-fare system in 2019.
Under the said system, SETC reduced fares by 10% to 25% on travel by its buses during weekdays to attract more passengers. On weekends (Friday, Saturday and Sunday), there were no such concessions and it collected nearly 2 for every kilometre travelled by passengers in its A/C buses.
Against this backdrop, SETC has announced that the lean fare system will be scrapped till June 15. This means that travelling to Trichy from Chennai in an A/C sleeper till June 15 will cost 705 instead of 635.
Now that schools and colleges will be closing down for the summer vacation, passenger footfalls are expected to increase and the corporation, which is facing huge losses, is trying to generate enough revenue possible in the coming weeks, said transport authorities.
Opposing this, transportation activist R Rengachari said this will set a bad precedent and private omni buses, which collect exorbitant fares, will follow SETC's footsteps. "Already, they are given a free hand and such announcements will eventually put passengers in the lurch."
Passengers on the other hand say that even after the increase in fares, the quality of bus services is turning from bad to worse. "On several occasions, the AC units either do not work effectively or vents are broken with cold air directly hitting the face," said P Vignesh, who regularly travels from Chennai to Madurai by SETC buses.
SETC officials in response said they had deployed an additional repair team at Koyambedu to keep a tab on A/C systems on all buses and complaints are addressed every now and then. Apart from this, five teams have been created to check buses in other parts of the state.