State Transport Corporations to outsource bus crew
The Corporations have floated bids for selection of service providers to choose drivers and conductors; all labour laws that are in force will be applicable to the contractors who provide manpower
There are six STCs, namely Villupuram, Salem, Coimbatore, Kumbakonam, Madurai and Tirunelveli, apart from the MTC and the State Express Transport Corporation (SETC).
The State Transport Corporations, including the Metropolitan Transport Corporation (MTC) — Chennai, have embarked on the process of outsourcing drivers and conductors.
The Corporations have floated bids for selection of service providers to choose drivers and conductors for regular bus operation for 11 months, which can be extended by another 11 months.
A total of 700 drivers and 500 conductors are required for MTC — Chennai; 801 driver-cum-conductors for the State Transport Corporation (Kumbakonam); 169 drivers and 260 conductors for Tirunelveli; and 148 drivers and 245 conductors for Coimbatore.
In the case of Chennai, the salaries prescribed for a driver and a conductor per month are ₹27,934 and ₹ 27,597, respectively. In general, all labour laws that are in force will be applicable to the contractors who provide the manpower.
There are six STCs, namely Villupuram, Salem, Coimbatore, Kumbakonam, Madurai and Tirunelveli, apart from the MTC and the State Express Transport Corporation (SETC). The fleet strength of all the eight corporations is 20,260 buses — 18,728 scheduled buses and 1,532 spare buses.
The buses are run on 10,132 authorised routes. As on March 31, 2024, the staff strength in all the Corporations was 1,11,019 with ridership of about 645.4 crore last year.
“With increasing costs of fuel, employee salaries and interest on loan, STUs [State Transport Undertakings] are now facing a struggle for survival,” says the Transport Department’s Policy Note for 2024-25. The document says despite the financial crunch, bus fares have been maintained at the same level as January 2018.
The revenue loss, which was ₹5,230.56 crore during 2019-20, went up to ₹8,328.53 crore next year (the COVID-19 pandemic year). In 2023-24, the loss declined to ₹6,317.49 crore, which was an unaudited figure.
Pointing out that the MTC and the SETC had carried out one round of outsourcing, a senior official says others may also outsource “based on necessity.” Besides, the Institute of Road Transport is working on a notification for the recruitment of regular staff, which may be out soon.
To a query on the stay granted by the Madras High Court last year on the process, the official says the court had eventually upheld the State government’s right to recruit human resources through outsourcing. Opposition parties and trade unionists have been going on record that the Corporations, at all levels, have vacancies to the tune of 25,000. To this, the official denies comment.
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