Tamil Nadu’s women’s free bus travel scheme is being operated under the new name ‘Vetri Payanam’, with the renamed service available across ordinary and deluxe city buses, as well as selected inter-district and hill routes, according to a report by Dinamalar.
The buses were previously operated under the name ‘Vidiyal Payanam’. The service was later referred to as ‘Magalir Payanam’, and has now been renamed ‘Vetri Payanam’. Name boards on buses across most parts of Tamil Nadu have been changed, while digital display boards have also been updated in several locations.
The scheme covers ordinary and deluxe buses operating in municipal and urban areas. Women can also travel without paying a fare on ordinary-fare suburban buses running between districts and on ordinary-fare buses serving hilly regions, the report said. The changes therefore affect both city services and selected services connecting towns, districts and hill areas.
The name change has been implemented across Tamil Nadu, except in Chengalpattu and Tiruppur districts, where by-elections are being held, according to the report. Some buses have also been painted in the colours associated with the TVK party, the report said. It did not provide details on the number of buses carrying the new colour scheme or on whether those buses form a separate operational category.
The renaming comes with the scheme already operating at a large scale. Transport corporation officials told Dinamalar that a total of 12,695 buses have been arranged to allow women to travel free of charge. They estimated that 84.32 lakh women benefit from the service each day.
The scheme is administered through the state transport system. Officials said the number of tickets issued under the programme is calculated in aggregate, after which the Tamil Nadu government provides the corresponding amount to the transport corporations. This reimbursement mechanism is intended to compensate the corporations for the fares not collected from eligible women passengers.
Passengers in some locations reported technical problems with the ticket-issuing devices used for women travelling under the scheme. The reported issues affected the equipment used by conductors to record and issue tickets, although the report did not specify the locations, duration or scale of the disruptions.
The continued use of ticketing equipment, despite the absence of a fare payment by women passengers, allows transport authorities to record journeys and calculate the reimbursement due to the corporations. The next operational focus will be the implementation of the renamed service, including the updated bus signage, digital displays and ticketing systems across the routes covered by the scheme.
