Why Tamil Nadu widow wants CM Vijay's free bus scheme declared 'unconstitutional': Plea in Madras HC today

The woman has reportedly approached the Madras High Court against the Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Vijay government’s ‘Vettri Payanam’ scheme, which offers free bus rides to all women and transgender groups.

N Kalamani, a private bus operator from Erode, has filed a plea in the Madras High Court challenging the constitutionality of the ‘Vettri Payanam’ scheme, The Hindu reported.

Read also | Tamil Nadu: CM Vijay announces ₹ 30 lakh each for Asian Games heroes; check the names

The plea seeking to declare the Vettri Payanam scheme unconstitutional came up for hearing on Monday (October 5, 2026) before a first division bench of Chief Justice Sushrut Arvind Dharmadhikari and Justice G Arul Murugan, The Hindu reported.

Why does he object to Tamil Nadu’s free bus travel scheme?

Kalamani reportedly claimed that women-only fare-free travel in government buses would cause a serious dent in the business of private bus operators and force them to shut down.

She said that not collecting fares from passengers only on government buses would be contrary to the principle of ensuring a level playing field in the bus industry, thereby violating Article 14 (right to equality) of the Constitution.

According to the report, the petitioner argued that private bus operators might lose not only female but also male passengers as families would naturally prefer to travel together in government buses where women do not have to pay any fare.

Read also | Who is Vithya Ramraj? TN athlete breaks PT Usha’s 42-year-old record in Asiad

The appellant stated that she is a widow and has two daughters to look after. Explaining her case, she said she has permission to operate buses on a 47-km route from Erode to Vellithiruppur and another 88-km route from Kakapalayam to Andhiyur.

The petitioner employed around 15 people and their families were also dependent on her transport business, The Hindu reported.

She was worried that passengers would not travel in her buses on these two routes as a significant number of government buses are plying on these routes.

According to the report, the petitioner said that the Tamil Nadu government has spent a huge amount ₹6,000 crore annually to compensate state transport corporations under the Vettri Payanam scheme targeting the daily income of 84.32 million women.

However, a request by the Federation of Tamil Nadu Bus Operators Association on July 22, 2026 to Chief Minister C. Joseph Vijay to extend the scheme to private bus operators also did not yield the desired result, it claimed, according to the report.

Read also | What was the Vijay Govt RTI order and why was it revoked?

Though ‘Vettri Payanam’ was an extension of the existing ‘Vidiyal Payanam’ scheme introduced by the previous DMK regime, the petitioner said the previous scheme was limited in scope and did not affect private operators much.

The petitioner also relied on various provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act, 1988 and also the Tamil Nadu Motor Vehicles Rules, 1989 to contend that collection of fare from passengers is mandatory and that the Government cannot announce fareless travel.

The petitioner further contended that the scheme was introduced on the basis of the Chief Minister’s notification under Article 110 in the legislature and without the issuance of any order by the Government. Such an act violates Article 161 of the Constitution, she added.

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

TN CM Vijay introduces extended free bus travel for women

On October 2, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister C Joseph Vijay launched an expanded ‘Vettri Payanam’ – free bus travel for women – issuing zero tickets to passengers.

The scheme, initially announced by the Chief Minister under Article 110 in the Assembly on August 24, aims to ensure that women in Tamil Nadu are not deprived of social and economic opportunities due to transport costs.

Free travel was earlier restricted to regular city and town buses and up to 40 km in hilly areas.

As part of the expanded initiative, it has now been expanded to include Express, Limited Stop Services (LSS), Deluxe, Suburban Ordinary (Mofussil Ordinary) and Ghat ordinary services operated by the seven State Transport Corporations (STCs) over a length of over 40 km, PTI reported.

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

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