Transport Department squads fined 1,826 omni buses a total of Rs 26.27 lakh over the Deepavali rush and collected Rs 70.81 lakh in unpaid road tax.
Seventeen omni buses were seized. Transport Department squads impounded them during checks across Tamil Nadu over the festival rush, officials said on 10 November, and booked 1,826 others for charging excess fares, breaking safety rules or not paying road tax.
More than 70 special teams of regional transport officers and motor vehicle inspectors ran the checks, in Chennai, Madurai and Coimbatore and near the major toll plazas that festival traffic funnels through. The fines added up to Rs 26.27 lakh.
Separately, the teams collected Rs 70.81 lakh in road tax that operators owed the government.
The numbers
Tax, not fines, brought in most of the money
Spread across the buses booked, the fines come to about Rs 1,439 each. The tax recovered was well over twice the fines. That points to where the larger money problem sits for the department: buses running without having paid what they owe the State. The State Transport Authority’s website carries a public notice on the All India Tourist Permit, பொது அறிவிப்பு – அகில இந்திய சுற்றுலா அனுமதிச்சீட்டு (public notice, All India Tourist Permit), along with a list of omni buses registered in other states that it says operate in Tamil Nadu in breach of those permit rules. The department has not released a breakdown of the 1,826 cases by type of violation, so how many were for fares alone is not known.
Last Deepavali’s drive, for comparison
| Measure | Deepavali 2025 | Deepavali 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Inspections or buses booked | 357 inspections | 1,826 buses fined |
| Fines | Rs 43.55 lakh (fines and taxes together) | Rs 26.27 lakh |
| Road tax collected | Included above | Rs 70.81 lakh |
| Fines and tax combined | Rs 43.55 lakh | Rs 97.08 lakh |
| Buses seized | Not given | 17 |
| Teams | Special enforcement teams | More than 70 |
Source: Transport Department statement, 10 November 2026; Transport Commissioner’s statement, 17 October 2025. The 2025 figure covers inspections from 16 October 2025 onwards.
The two years were counted differently. In 2025 the Transport Commissioner gave one figure, Rs 43.55 lakh in penalties and taxes, after 357 inspections from 16 October, and said fares had been ordered cut wherever overcharging was found. This year’s statement separates fines from tax. On the combined measure, the 2026 drive brought in more than twice as much.
Fare is the sore point every festival. There is no government fare cap on omni buses, which run as contract carriages, so enforcement rests on permit conditions, safety checks and tax. Before last year’s rush the Transport Commissioner directed all regional and deputy transport commissioners to inspect omni buses from 14 to 21 October, with motor vehicle inspectors posted at toll plazas.
How we worked this out
The 2026 figures are as the Transport Department gave them on 10 November 2026. The per-bus fine is Rs 26,27,000 divided by 1,826 buses, rounded to the nearest rupee. The 2026 combined figure adds the fines (Rs 26.27 lakh) and road tax (Rs 70.81 lakh). The 2025 figures come from the Transport Commissioner’s statement of 17 October 2025, which did not separate fines from tax, so only the combined rows compare like with like.
Checked against official sources on 12 November 2026.
Sources
- Statement of the Transport Department, Government of Tamil Nadu, on omni bus enforcement during Deepavali, 10 November 2026
- Statement of the Transport Commissioner, Tamil Nadu, on omni bus inspections, 17 October 2025
- Release of the Directorate of Information and Public Relations on the Transport Commissioner’s Deepavali inspection directive, 13 October 2025
- State Transport Authority, Tamil Nadu: public notice on the All India Tourist Permit and list of other-state omni buses
