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Omni bus 8-fold fare hike: K.N. Nehru slams government
- •Former Minister K.N. Nehru has strongly condemned an 8-fold hike in omni bus fares during the Ayudha Pooja holidays.
- •He accused the government of remaining a mute spectator while private bus operators exploit middle-class families traveling to their hometowns.
- •Nehru contrasted the current inaction with the stringent measures taken during the Dravidian model rule, including RTO special teams and heavy fines.
- •He alleged that the Vijay government is busy with PR stunts and sticker-pasting instead of addressing public grievances and fare looting.
Key Questions Answered
DMK Principal Secretary K.N. Nehru sharply criticized the government, stating that omni buses imposed an unprecedented 8-fold fare increase during the consecutive Ayudha Pooja holidays, creating severe hardship for ordinary and middle-class passengers traveling from Chennai to their hometowns. He accused the administration of remaining a mute spectator and failing to curb the multi-fold fare looting.
The All Omni Bus Owners Association denied allegations of exorbitant price spikes, blaming the high figures shown online on aggressive competition and 'dummy charts' generated by ticketing aggregators attempting to expand their trade volume. Association secretary D Maran asserted that ticket prices have remained unchanged since 2023.
During previous festival seasons under the Dravidian model rule, authorities established over 30 Regional Transport Office special monitoring teams for 24-hour inspections in key cities, levied heavy fines on buses charging excess fares, monitored online booking applications, and deployed additional government buses to reduce passenger reliance on private operators.
