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Omni Bus Strike Postponed: Private Bus Owners Await Government Action on Free Travel Scheme
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News18•29-09-2026, 12:03
Omni Bus Strike Postponed: Private Bus Owners Await Government Action on Free Travel Scheme
- •The private bus owners' association postponed its statewide protest strike scheduled for tomorrow (30th).
- •The postponement follows assurances from the Tamil Nadu government to consider their demands.
- •Bus owners seek free travel for women, transgenders, and persons with disabilities on private buses, similar to the Vettri Payana Thittam.
- •The federation previously warned that the free travel scheme for women on government buses would make private bus operations unviable, affecting 3 lakh families.
- •Thangaraj, the federation president, also demanded that the free travel scheme for women should only be offered to women with low incomes.
Key Questions Answered
The one-day protest strike was postponed after the Tamil Nadu government's Revenue and Transport ministers contacted the private bus owners and assured them that their primary demands would be considered.
The federation demanded that if women, transgenders, and persons with disabilities are allowed to travel free on city, town, and ordinary suburban buses under the Vettri Payana Thittam scheme, the same free travel policy should apply to private buses or be limited to low-income women.
Thangaraj, the president of the private bus owners' federation, announced the postponement while expressing concern that the free travel scheme could make operating private buses impossible and impact around 3 lakh dependent families.
