One of the major problems for passengers during festival seasons is the fare charged by omni buses. Even though omni bus associations themselves have requested that no extra fare be collected, there has been no significant change so far. It was in this context that, a few weeks ago, regarding omni bus fares during the festival season, the president of the All Omni Bus Owners Association, Anbalagan, and secretary Maaran met reporters at the Koyambedu Omni Bus Stand.

At that time, they said, “There are complaints that omni buses are charging excessive fares during the festival season. Only a few private buses are doing that. Therefore, take action against omni buses that charge extra fares. Also, we will call and speak to the owners of omni buses that charge high fares.”
Following that, with the aim of reducing the fares of private buses, the All Omni Bus Owners Association yesterday launched an app called Roamie App for booking omni buses. We tested that app as a passenger.
In it, just like the apps we normally use, you can log in to the app using a mobile number, name, and OTP. Compared with other apps, the fares for some buses on this app were higher. Since the very purpose behind creating this app has come under question, we contacted Anbalagan, the president of the All Omni Bus Owners Association, to speak about it.
He said, “Omni bus tickets are booked only online. In particular, 99% of ticket bookings happen online. A separate fare cannot be fixed for omni buses. Therefore, the main objective of the 'Roamie' app is to reduce the platform commission amount. While other platforms like Red Bus charge a commission of 10% to 15%, the 'Roamie' app has set a commission of only 10%, and it is planned to return 5% of that amount to customers as a discount.”
Temporary differences may appear because other corporate apps offer some discounts immediately due to competition. However, the fare on the 'Roamie' app will still be lower than on other platforms. For example, if the ticket is Rs. 1000, it can be available for up to Rs. 950. The main purpose of this app being connected to the central government's ONDC (Open Network for Digital Commerce) network is to avoid additional platform fees. Through this, bus owners will not have to pay any platform commission fee.

A specific small platform usage fee will be charged. Since more than 40,000 passengers began using this service on the very first day it was launched, some technical issues have arisen. At present, all the technical glitches on this site will be fully fixed and streamlined within the next two months. The technical team is working intensively to resolve these issues.
It has been a recurring complaint that omni bus fares are charged at higher rates during festival seasons. The reason for this is that there is no legally established fixed fare set by the government for omni buses.
Omni buses also operate based on the Supreme Court’s ruling regarding airfares. Since there is no fare regulation, there are difficulties in taking direct legal action against buses that charge excessive fares. However, to control this issue, a new system is going to be introduced in the 'Roamie' app. The association will set minimum and maximum fare limits.

Buses that charge excessively high fares or buses that set fares far too low will not be listed on this 'Roamie' app. Bus owners are also ready to cooperate with this regulation. Government officials have been continuously holding discussions with us regarding bus fares," he said.
Following that, we spoke with Shankar, the Chief Operating Officer of the team designing this app. He said, "The Roamie app is currently only in its initial stage. Apps like RedBus display the lowest fare at the time of search itself. But Roamie displays the intermediate fare.
This technical glitch will be fully fixed within a day or two. Since this app allows bus owners themselves to sell tickets directly on this site, intermediary commission is avoided, and customers get an instant 5% discount. When passengers go inside, choose a seat, and proceed to the final step of making payment, the 5% discount is automatically applied to the actual ticket price.
If there are any questions or issues, there are dedicated email and customer service facilities to contact. Unlike other apps, passengers can directly contact the bus owners themselves to resolve their doubts without having to go through multiple stages. Through this app, bus owners save the 10% to 15% commission amount that is usually paid per ticket to other corporate apps. In other apps, a ticket worth Rs. 2,000 can incur a commission of up to Rs. 200.
However, on the Roamie platform, owners are charged only a very low platform fee of Rs. 30 to Rs. 50 per ticket. Although the current minor technical issues will be fixed within 1-2 days, it will still take another 1 to 2 months for the Roamie platform to be fully streamlined. The technical system is being improved so that passengers can get tickets at the lowest possible price," he said. In any case, as long as something good happens for the people, that is enough!