₹15 crore dues yet to be cleared; 100 city buses stay off roads in Gurugram, Faridabad for four days

A GMCBL official confirmed that 50 buses operating from the Sector 50 depot in Gurugram and another 50 from the Ballabhgarh depot in Faridabad had stopped operations

Around 100 city buses operating across Gurugram and Faridabad have remained off the roads since Friday after the concessionaire suspended services over alleged non-payment of dues by Gurugram City Bus Limited (GMCBL), the special purpose vehicle of the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA).

The company said services would resume only after at least part of the dues was cleared. As per the concessionaire, an amount of ₹15 crore is owed to them. (HT Photo)

The concessionaire, TCRPL Gurugram City Transport Pvt Ltd, which operates 50 buses each in Gurugram and Faridabad across 18 routes, said it suspended operations after repeated requests to GMCBL to clear outstanding payments went unanswered. The company said services would resume only after at least part of the dues was cleared. As per the concessionaire, an amount of ₹15 crore is owed to them.

A GMCBL official confirmed that 50 buses operating from the Sector 50 depot in Gurugram and another 50 from the Ballabhgarh depot in Faridabad had stopped operations.

The disruption has inconvenienced commuters who rely on city buses to travel between residential areas, metro stations and commercial centres. According to the GMCBL website, about 15,000 to 16,000 passengers use the bus service daily in Gurugram and Faridabad.

“No buses are available for the commuters for the last few days and now we are dependent on shared autos for commute. The authorities should ensure bus service resumes at the earliest,” said Rajesh Kumar, who commutes from Sohna to Gurugram.

In Faridabad, services on nine routes connecting key residential and commercial areas have also been suspended.

GMCBL entered into an agreement with the concessionaire in 2019 to operate 100 buses in Gurugram. Subsequently, 50 of these buses were shifted to Faridabad.

“The buses in Faridabad are not financially viable and another depot has to be maintained there despite that not being part of the original mandate. We have not been getting payments since the past six months and it has become difficult to run operations. We are discussing the matter with the authorities and hope that the issue would be resolved soon,” an official of the concessionaire said, requesting anonymity.

A GMDA spokesperson said the matter had been brought to the notice of the management and efforts were underway to restore services at the earliest.

“Till operations resume, buses are being inspected, retrofitted and refurbished so that public can have a hindrance-free city bus service,” the spokesperson said.

A GMCBL official, however, said that apart from the pending payments, the concessionaire had failed to meet several operational requirements, without elaborating on what those operational requirements were. These issues were also being discussed with the company, the official said.

“Inspection along refurbishment and retrofitting of buses is going on to ensure the safety of passengers as these buses were manufactured eight years ago,” said Vishwajit Chaudary, CEO, GMCBL.