GMCBL Bus conductors to be paid wages this week

“The delay had arisen due to differences between the GMCBL and our vendor, Skylark, who provides the conductors to us. However, the problems have now been resolved; we will ensure that workers are given fair wages,” Sharma said.

Over 70 conductors enrolled with the recently launched city bus service, who have not been paid wages in almost two months, will be given their salaries this week, Gurugram Metropolitan City Bus Ltd (GMCBL) general manager Arun Sharma said.

Renowned transport expert Dario Hidalgo takes Gurugarm city bus service ride from Huda City Centre metro station to Subhash chowk in Gurugram. (Parveen Kumar/Hindustan Times)

“The delay had arisen due to differences between the GMCBL and our vendor, Skylark, who provides the conductors to us. However, the problems have now been resolved; we will ensure that workers are given fair wages,” Sharma said.

The Hindustan Times had reported on September 10 that 72 conductors, who were enrolled on July 26, had not been paid wages in over a month.

Skylark branch manager (Gurugram) Ravinder Kumar clarified that the conductors would be paid a total of ₹17,700 (after deductions for medical benefits and provident fund) as monthly salary. “We met GMCBL officials last week and arrived at this amount. I am only waiting for an official letter from the GMCBL okaying the transfer of salaries. Once that happens, the payments will be made immediately,” Kumar said.

However, the news did not come as a relief to the conductors, who said they have been repeatedly made the same promise. “We have been seeking clarity on our salary since we joined, but the administration has not given us any clear answer about how much we will get paid. The amount and date keeps changing,” said one conductor on Tuesday. Others said they would not trust the authorities’ claim till their salaries are transferred.

During their enrolment, candidates were offered a salary of ₹14,610 per month (after deductions for provident fund and medical benefits). As per the original tender floated by the GMCBL, their salary were fixed at ₹20,000 per month (including provident fund and medical benefits).

Meanwhile, Skylark is continuing to enrol new conductors into the GMCBL. On September 16, an entrance test was conducted at Murthal University in Sonipat for which over 300 applicants appeared. Sunil Jain, transport adviser at the Gurugram Metropolitan Development Authority, confirmed that more tests would be carried out regularly to add to the GMCBL’s roster to meet the manpower needs of rolling out more buses and routes by next year.