City bus services in Gurugram and Faridabad are likely to be restored on Friday, with 100 buses that have remained off the roads since October 7 expected to resume operations following discussions between Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Limited (GMCBL) and its concessionaire over pending payments, officials said on Thursday.
“The city bus service will resume from Friday and directions in this regard have been issued to the bus concessionaire. “Detailed discussion was held on the financial issues and it was decided that a part of outstanding payment would be paid to TCRPL. The concessionaire and the GMCBL both did not comment on payment of dues. For commuters, the suspension has meant longer and less convenient journeys, particularly along routes connecting Millennium City Centre with Badshahpur and Sohna. “Several hundred passengers in Gurugram used the city bus particularly to travel from Millennium City Centre towards Badshahpur and Sohna.
The disruption, triggered by a dispute over dues of approximately ₹ 15 crore, has affected an estimated 15,000 to 20,000 daily commuters across 18 routes in the two cities, forcing many to rely on shared autorickshaws and other modes of transport. A senior GMCBL official said some of the financial issues were resolved during discussions with the concessionaire, TCRPL Gurugram City Bus Transport Pvt Ltd, which subsequently agreed to resume operations with 50 buses from Friday. GMCBL has a fleet of 200 buses, of which 50 operate from the Sector 52 depot in Gurugram, 50 from the Ballabhgarh depot in Faridabad and the remaining 100 from the Sector 10 depot in Gurugram. Services from the Sector 52 and Ballabhgarh depots were suspended on October 7 following the payment dispute, while the Sector 10 fleet continued to operate, officials said. A senior TCRPL executive said representatives of the company and GMCBL met at the Sector 10 depot on Thursday to work out the terms for restoring services.
Guidelines in this regard have been issued to the operator, and commuters will not face any problems,” said Vishwajit Chaudhary, CEO, GMCBL. We plan to restart operations from Friday,” the executive said. We have been dependent on shared autos for travel and these are not very convenient,” said Manoj Yadav, a resident of Badshahpur. Commuters said the regular bus schedules and lower fares made the service an important mode of daily transport, particularly for those travelling longer distances. “The buses were safe and cheaper as compared to other modes of private transport such as cabs and bike taxis,” said Vikas Singh.
All the 100 buses that were non-operational from sector 52 and Ballabgarh depot are expected to start operations from Friday.
