Why A Tamil Nadu Widow Wants CM Vijay's Free Bus Scheme Declared 'Unconstitutional': Plea In Madras HC Today

(MENAFN- Live Mint) A woman reportedly approached the Madras High Court against Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay's government's 'Vettri Payanam' scheme, which offers free bus rides to all women and transgender groups.

N Kalamani, a private bus operator from Erode, filed a writ petition in the Madras High Court, challenging the constitutional validity of the 'Vettri Payanam' scheme, The Hindu reported.

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The writ petition seeking to declare the Vettri Payanam scheme unconstitutional has been listed for hearing before the first Division Bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G. Arul Murugan on Monday (October 5, 2026), The Hindu reported.

Why has she objected to Tamil Nadu's free bus travel scheme?

Kalamani reportedly claimed that no-fare travel for women in government buses alone would cause a severe dent to business of private bus operators and force them to shut down operations.

She said that not collecting any fare from women passengers in government buses only would go against the principle of ensuring a level playing field in the bus transport sector and thereby, violate Article 14 (right to equality of the Constitution.

According to the report, the petitioner claimed that private bus operators would possibly lose not only women passengers but also men, because families would naturally prefer to travel together in government buses, where women need not pay any fare.

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The petitioner said she is a widow with two daughters to care for. While explaining her case, she said she held permits to operate buses on the 47-km route from Erode to Vellithiruppur and another 88-km route from Kakapalayam to Andhiyur.

The petitioner had employed about 15 people, and their families, too, were dependent on her transport business, The Hindu reported.

She feared that passengers would not travel on her buses on the two routes since a significant number of government buses were operated on those routes.

According to the report, the petitioner said the Tamil Nadu governmen spent a whopping amount of ₹6,000 crore a year for compensating the State transport corporations towards the Vettri Payanam scheme aimed at benefitting 84.32 lakh women on a daily basis.

However, a request made by the Federation of Bus Operators Associations of Tamil Nadu to Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay, on July 22, 2026 for extending the scheme to private bus operators too did not yield the desired result, she claimed, as per the report.

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Though 'Vettri Payanam' was an expansion of the existing 'Vidiyal Payanam' scheme introduced by the previous DMK regime, the petitioner said, the previous scheme was limited in its scope and did not affect the private operators to a great extent.

The petitioner also relied upon various provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 as well as the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicle Rules, 1989 to contend that collection of fare from the passengers was mandatory and that the government could not announce no-fare travel.

The petitioner further claimed that the scheme had been implemented on the basis of an announcement made by the Chief Minister under Rule 110 in the Legislative Assembly and without issuing any Government Order. Ssuch act offends Article 161 of the Constitution, she added.

She urged the Madras High Court to declare the Chief Minister's announcement, published by the Information and Public Relations Department (DIPR) on August 24, 2026 as "unconstitutional" and also grant an interim stay to it until the disposal of her writ petition.

TN CM Vijay rolls out expanded free bus travel for women

On October 2, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay launched the expanded 'Vettri Payanam' -- free bus travel for women -- issuing zero-fare tickets to women passengers.

The scheme, originally announced by the chief minister under Rule 110 in the Assembly on August 24, aims to ensure that women across Tamil Nadu are not deprived of social and economic opportunities due to transport costs.

The free travel facility was previously restricted to ordinary city and town buses and up to 40 km in hilly regions.

Under the expanded initiative, it has now been extended to cover Express, Limited Stop Services (LSS), Deluxe, Suburban Ordinary (Mofussil Ordinary), and Ghat Ordinary services running over 40 km operated by the state's seven State Transport Corporations (STCs), PTI reported.

With this expansion, a total of 12,695 buses will operate 1,68,500 single trips daily under the scheme, benefiting an estimated 84.32 lakh women passengers across the state every day.

There would be no income ceiling for the beneficiaries to avail services, and there will also be no limit on the number of daily trips.

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