State Express Transport Corporation - Tamil Nadu Ltd - (SETC) is a state-owned transport corporation that runs long-distance mofussil services exceeding 300 km and above throughout the state of Tamil Nadu and major cities in adjoining states of Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Kerala and the union territory of Puducherry. It is a subsidiary of Tamil Nadu State Transport Corporation Ltd.
A separate entity exclusively for operating long-distance express services was conceived by the Government of Tamil Nadu in 1975, and the services were transferred to the newly formed express wing of Pallavan Transport Corporation with effect from 15 September 1975. It was registered formally on 14 January 1980 and renamed as Thiruvalluvar Transport Corporation (TTC) in honor of the Tamil poet Thiruvalluvar. During the 1990s, JJTC was formed, which operated interstate routes of the erstwhile TTC. JJTC was then renamed as RGTC in 1996. Both TTC and RGTC were later merged into the State Express Transport Corporation (SETC) in 1997.
SETC provides services at fixed rates throughout the year, unlike Omni buses where fares increase multi-fold during long weekends and festival holidays.services.
SETC provides advance booking and reservations on all of its routes. The advance reservation period is 60 days before the journey date. There are options to reserve tickets through online as well as in SETC counters at major Bus Stations. The travellers will be notified by SMS with a conductor's mobile number when the passenger list is printed at the originating station.