Private buses with permits on both mofussil and town routes (other than omni buses) would resume operations in the State from Wednesday, after being off the roads for over 75 days due to the lockdown enforced in view of the COVID- 19 pandemic.
The buses would begin plying in all districts and within the respective zones, except in Kancheepuram, Tiruvallur and Chengalpattu districts in Zone VII, the Federation of Bus Operators Associations of Tamil Nadu announced here on Tuesday. The private operators do not have a presence in Chennai.
The nearly 2,000 members of the federation have a combined fleet of about 4,600 route buses, excluding spare vehicles, in the State. They form a significant part of the public transport network in second tier cities and towns including Coimbatore, Tiruchi, Erode, Tiruppur, Thanjavur and other districts.
While the State Transport Corporations resumed operations from June 1, following relaxations in the lockdown restrictions, the private bus operators had deferred a decision pending discussions among themselves. The buses went off the roads on March 25.
“We have decided to resume operations as per the guidelines of the government and we have made arrangements, on behalf of the federation, to sanitise our buses by spraying disinfectants at the bus stands,” D.R.Dharmaraj, secretary of the federation, told The Hindu here, after a virtual meeting of office bearers and district representatives on Tuesday.
Mr.Dharmaraj said the buses would operate with 60% occupancy and requirements such as wearing face masks would also be complied with. There can be no change in the existing government prescribed fare structure, he said, answering a query.
He also disclosed that the federation has requested the government to waive road tax for the vehicles for the second quarter of the year, April-June, in view of the lockdown. Already several states have waived the tax for varying periods, he pointed out.
“We have also written to the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority and insurance companies seeking to extend the annual insurance cover by 78 days – the period during which the buses were off the roads. At the national level, we have also requested the Centre to waive the toll fee for six months,” he said.
