Tamil Nadu private bus operators defer one-day strike after government assurance

CHENNAI: Private bus operators in Tamil Nadu have deferred their proposed 24-hour token strike scheduled from midnight on Tuesday following assurances from the state government that their key demands would be considered.

Tamil Nadu Private Bus Owners Federation president K Thangaraj said in a statement on Tuesday that Revenue Minister KA Sengottaiyan and Transport Minister A Vijay Tamilan Parthiban had contacted the federation and assured them that their major demands would be considered.

“Based on the assurance given by the ministers, we have decided to defer the one-day token strike announced for Wednesday,” Thangaraj said.

The operators had announced the strike demanding revision of private bus fares and extension of the women’s free travel scheme to private buses with government subsidy.

Around 7,000 private buses operate across Tamil Nadu, excluding Chennai, Madurai, Nagercoil and Udhagamandalam. Operators had said fares had not been revised since 2018 despite a steep increase in diesel and spare parts costs, resulting in mounting losses.

Federation of Bus Operators Association of Tamil Nadu secretary DR Dharmaraj had said private bus operators were currently running at a loss of around 65%.

A federation of private bus owners’ associations had approached the Madras high court in March last year seeking directions to revise fares in view of the increase in diesel prices. Following the court’s direction, the government sought the views of operators and the public on fare revision, but no further action was taken, the operators had alleged.

The operators had also opposed the proposed expansion of the women’s free travel scheme from Oct 2, pointing out that state transport undertakings received government subsidy for the scheme while private bus operators did not receive any compensation.

They had demanded that the scheme be extended to private buses with government subsidy and that fares be revised to make the operations financially viable.

The federation said nearly three lakh employees depended on the private bus sector and several lakh passengers used private buses every day.